Power Rangers Jungle Fury: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
by AnimeJunkieGrrl
Summary: A young lady vet visits Jungle Karma Pizza and catches the eye of a certain owner but she and her friend have a secret.
1. Chapter 1

**POWER RANGERS JUNGLE FURY: **_**BEAUTY AND THE BEAST**_

This is a fanfiction written by me and a very good friend of mine. We hope you guys like it! :)

It was a hectic Saturday at Jungle Karma Pizza. Casey, Lily, Theo, RJ and Fran were doing their usual lunch hour duties: serving their distinct pizzas, keeping the place clean and making sure everyone was having a good time. This particular day was especially busy.

"Man, there's a lot of people here today!" Casey noted.

Casey was manning the cash register and was ringing up the customer's bills as fast as he could. It took all his concentration to keep from handing one customer too much change and short-changing another.

"I know; more than usual. Fran, I need three Thrilla Gorillas and a veggie pizza for table five, pronto!" Lily called out.

"Coming!"

Fran walked out from behind the counter with two pies on each arm. She was on her way to the table that had four college football players wearing their letterman jackets when she tripped over her own untied shoelaces. Her arms flailed sending the pies flying and in danger of hitting the floor therefore deeming them unfit to eat.

"WHOA!"

"Fran, I got it!" Theo shouted.

Theo runs towards Fran and catches each of the falling pizzas before they hit the floor. The lunchtime crowd applauds the young man thinking it was some form of entertainment.

"Nice catch, Theo." Lily complimented.

"Thanks, I owe you one."

Theo placed all four pizzas on table five before looking to Fran.

"That was too close. You okay, Fran?"

"I'm fine. From now on, I'm wearing sneakers with velcro." She said with a laugh.

At that moment, their boss and mentor to three of the employees, RJ, comes out of the back with four pizzas inside their trademark boxes ready for pick-up. He had on the garb of a master chef; his white double-breasted waistcoat with the insignia of Jungle Karma Pizza in full view on his left lapel, a red apron tied around his waist and his favorite leopard print hat that was cocked to one side slightly.

"So, how are things going out here?"

"Just fine, RJ. Fran had a little mishap but everything's cool." Casey explained.

"Are you sure you're okay, Fran?"

He walked over to check on his spectacled employee and noticed her shoes were indeed untied. He chuckled to himself figuring that that was the reason for the commotion he heard earlier.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But with all these people, how are we going to get all of the pizzas done?" She asked with concern.

"We're going to have to. I've got a pizza order ready right now and someone is supposed to come in to pick it up." RJ replied.

"Wow, so who's supposed to come by?" Lily wondered.

"I've only seen her a few times. She comes in at exactly the same time everyday, rushes in wearing a white coat, says a quick 'hi', pays for the pizzas and gives a quick 'see you later' before running out. I guess she's just really busy."

Just then, a young woman with long, black hair wearing a white lab coat in a ponytail walks in and comes up to the counter with a smile.

"There she is now."

She was hovering between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 7 in her white sneakers. She wasn't rail-thin, but she wasn't what you would call a chubbette, either. She was the perfect medium, sleek-toned with curves in all the right places. Her dark brown eyes were usually the first thing people noticed because they always conveyed her warm, caring demeanor. She had been called 'quiet' by people who meet her for the first time because of her soft-spoken voice but she preferred the term "calm-natured." The feature she liked most about herself was her skin that she herself said was roughly a shade lighter than milk chocolate. (A/N: YES, she's African-American. ;) )

"Hey. Is my order ready? Two Thrilla Gorillas double bananas, one Mega veggie and one veggie no onions?" She asked.

Casey looked over to his boss who was holding the pizza boxes in his arms and noticed that...he wasn't moving. His face was frozen in what looked like awe; complete with his mouth just slightly open. Casey chuckled nervously as the lady stood their waiting for her order. He made a mental note reminding himself to rib RJ later about this later. Grabbing the four bozes from his mannequin of a boss, he handed them to the young lady with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that, miss. Here you go. Fresh out of the oven." Casey said returning the smile.

"Thanks...you're new here aren't you?" She asked grabbing the boxes.

"Yeah, we are." Theo replied.

"I'm Lily, this is Theo and that's Casey."

"Nice to meet you all." She said shaking each of their hands.

"And I'm Fran. Nice to meet you."

As each of the teens got finished introducing themselves, Casey was gently shaking RJ in an attempt to make him say something...ANYTHING. A squeak, a grunt, a burp. Anything to prove to the young cashier that RJ was still on Planet Earth.

"Likewise. This place is in good hands. Keep up the good work." She complimented.

All four employees thanked her and Casey noticed her attire. He'd given up on making his boss talk.

"So you're a doctor? I'm asking because of the lab coat."

"Yeah, I'm the head vet of the Ocean Bluff Veterinary Hospital."

"That is so cool." Lily replied.

"Yeah, we treat all kinds of animals there, even wild ones."

"Wow. Aren't they hard to tame?" Theo asked with interest.

"Well, they're wild; they weren't meant to be tamed, but somehow, they seem comfortable around me. Even when they growl and jump at the other vets. I even had a lion lick my face once. Shocked EVERYONE!" The young woman recalled.

"That's so incredible!" Fran said.

"Well, I better get back to the hospital with these pizzas before everyone revolts."

She smiles as she picks up the four boxes to carry back to her car.

"It was nice meeting all of you."

The four young employees bade her farewell as their boss was oddly silent. She had been coming in for a few weeks and RJ never had the guts to ask for her name...until now. Before she took one step towards the door, he walks around the counter to face her; at this point his voice finally decided to make an appearance.

"Hi. I don't believe we've met. My name is RJ. And you are?"

The young woman gave a tiny smirk. She was wondering when he was going to say something to her. She noticed him just standing there when she came in. Usually she would just pop in, pay for the food and pop back out due to her busy schedule; today was a rare treat because for the first time in weeks, she had an off day. Inside, she was thankful she had some time to come in and talk to the employees, otherwise she never would have met this attractive young man standing in front of her.

"My name's Gwendolyn. But everyone calls me Gwen."

"That's a pretty name." RJ said with a goofy grin.

"Thank you. I guess I'll see you later. Bye."

She flashed him a sweet smile before leaving the parlor with her order. RJ was left waving to her for a solid twenty seconds until Casey waved his hand in front of his face to snap him out of it.

"Earth to RJ, do you read me, over!"

"Cute girl."

"Oh, looks like someone has a crush." Casey said jokingly.

Lily and Fran giggled behind their boss' back.

"I do not."

"Yeah, right, RJ. It's written all over your face." Theo mused.

"I told you I don't have a crush."

"You SO do." Lily rebutted.

"Okay, okay, I admit it. She's pretty." He said with a light sigh.

"Pretty nothing. She's hot! Y-you know i-in a scientific kind of way, of course." Theo stammered.

"Uh huh." They all replied.

Meanwhile, at Dai Shi's lair...

Dai Shi was pacing back and forth recounting his latest defeat by the Power Rangers. Every passing second made him seethe with more and more anger. He needed to take his frustrations out on someone, and he knew just who to call.

"CAMILLE! GET IN HERE NOW!!" He bellowed.

Camille appeared from the wall she was camouflaged in and cringed when she looked at her master's scowl.

"You summoned me, Dai Shi?" She asked cringing.

Dai Shi methodically stalked around Camille like the lion spirit that inhabited him. He looked her up and down and the chameleon was thinking that Dai Shi had finally taken an interest in her other than just as his general. Sadly, that was not the case.

"Camille, unless you have a foolproof plan to defeat the rangers, you might as well look forward to a future as my NEW BELT!!"

Camille jumped back from her master's roaging threat. She'd be completely turned on if she wasn't so terrified of him.

"Master, don't worry. My newest creation will bring chills down the spines of those rangers."

She produces a silk bag that held a golden spider idol.

"The tarantula is the largest and most feared of all the spiders."

Camille calls forth a rinshi and places the spider idol on its forehead. It changes to its second form and stands next to Camille.

"May I present...Arachnikhan!"

"Looks promising. GO into the city and gather their fear...and you best not fail me this time."

"Of course, Dai Shi. Rinshi, let's go!"

Camille bowed and walked out with the Rinshi hopping behind her to wreak havoc.

Meanwhile at the Ocean Bluff Veterinary Hospital...

"Guys, soup's on!"

Gwen shouted as she fed her patients ranging from domesticated pets to wild animals. After making sure they were all fed, she takes the pizzas to the lounge area where a small group of kindergarten kids and her coworker were waiting.

"I got pizza! COME AND GET IT!"

A few of the kids rushed to get their slices.

"Thanks, Gwen. I'm starving." One kid said as he took a bite.

She loved animals, true enough, but she also loved children. Often, she would take a break from her busy schedule and host field trips to educate the kids about animal, how to take care of them and how to treat those in the wild. It was the children who made her job that much more rewarding.

"Now where's Keenan? He's usually first when I call out..."

"PIZZAAAA!"

The shout came from behind her and nearly scared the daylights out of her.

"Alright, MICHELANGELO!" She shot back with a smirk making the kids laugh.

"Can I help it if my pizza is my favorite food? Especially pepperoni?" Keenan asked as he reached for his favorite food.

Keenan was just shy of 5 foot 10 and has a slim build. His skin was a little darker in tone due to the time spent outside doing one of his two favorite hobbies: basketball and dancing. His hair was cut short, a little like Ethan's but a tad shorter.

"What ISN'T your favorite food? Anyway, let's dig in." She chuckled.

As they ate, Gwen thought back to the pizza place and a small smile crept on her face. Sure, she went to Jungle Karma Pizza almost every day but it was just a run...in every sense of the word. She was usually the one corraled into picking up everyone's orders despite her frantic schedule so it was always, get in, pay, get out. She never got the chance to look around the pizza parlor to admire its unique take on the 'Tarzan' them it had. This time she did and she wondered why she never noticed before. The pizzas were interesting on their own but the atmosphere the decorating added made it more enjoyable. And the staff...they were pretty cool kids. But what grabbed her attention the most was the owner...HOW did she not notice HIM?

_"He's a hunk and a half...and another three quarters."_ A Cheshire Cat-like grin made the corners of her mouth curl as she thought about RJ.

"Why are you so happy?" Keenan asked.

"Hmm, no reason." She lied.

"Come on, Gwen. We're all friends here. And since when have you kept anything from me?"

"Okay. I met the crew and the owner of the pizza place I got the food from."

"_And the owner's kinda cute."_ She thought to herself.

"Cool."

They continued their lunch in relative peace when suddenly, there was an explosion outside, near the hospital. The animals started to make loud noises.

"What was that?" Keenan asked.

"I don't know. It sounded like it came from outside."

Everyone ran to the windows to see Camille and the rinshi causing mayhem and destroying everything in sight.

"Whoa! Gwen, you don't think..."

"We need to get everyone out of here in case they hit here next."

"You're right."

They gather the frightened kids to take them to safety as the rangers show up to confront Camille.

"Back off, Camille!" Casey shouted.

"What's your game this time?" Lily asked.

"Let me show you! Rinshi, ATTACK!"

The minions hop towards the three teens as they take a fighting stance.

"Ready?" Casey asked.

"Ready!" Lily and Theo shouted back.

"JUNGLE BEAST, SPIRIT UNLEASHED!"

All three go through their transformations and stand in front of their enemies.

"Strength of the Tiger! Jungle Fury Red Ranger!"

"Speed of the Cheetah! Jungle Fury Yellow Ranger!"

"Stealth of the Jaguar! Jungle Fury Blue Ranger!"

"Don't you get tired of that?" Camille sighed.

"We're tired of YOU!" Casey answered.

The rinshi and the rangers face off in a heated battle. A few minutes into the fight...

"Oh, rangers!" Camille taunted.

"What do you want!?" Lily asked.

"I hope you're not afraid of spiders! ARACHNIKHAN! GET THEM!!"

"Watch your back, guys!" Casey ordered.

"Step into my parlor, said the spider to you flies!"

The transformed rinshi changed once more into a grotesque spider mutant that roared loudly.

"Okay, that's just SICK!" Lily said with disgust.

"I HATE spiders!" Theo replied.

"We're gonna need the big guns for this one! JUNGLE CHUCKS!"

"JUNGLE BO!"

"JUNGLE TONFA!"

Casey rushes in to attack Arachnikhan first while Lily and Theo take care of the rinshi, but his strikes had no effect on the mutant's tough exoskeleton. As he fought, Gwen and Keenan were on the other side of the street herding the kids to safety.

"Come on, guys!" Keenan ordered.

"Run to the police station! You'll be safer there!" Gwen told the kids who ran to the police.

"Okay, Gwen, they're safe. What do we do?"

"Come on."

Gwen and Keenan run back to the hospital for reasons known only to them. Meanwhile, Casey was blasted into a car by the monster's Spinneret Attack.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Casey!" Lily shouted.

"You alright?"

"MAN, he's tough!" Casey groaned as he peeled himself off of the car door he dented.

"Let's get in on this, Theo!"

"Right behind you!"

Both Lily and Theo charge Arachnikhan full force and manage to get a few hits in, but they get beaten back by the same attack. Its exoskeleton is virtually impenetrable.

"Yikes! Talk about unnecessary roughness!" Theo groaned.

"We can't give up, guys!" Lily reassured.

"You might as well. NOTHING can pierce his armor!" Camille cackled.

Arachnikhan was slowly inching forward, looking forward to handing his master his first victory...

End of Chapter One

I'll post more if anyone likes it. R&R please. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

I want to thank my best friend Keenan for helping me write this. YOU ROCK!! :) ON WITH THE FIC!

"If either of you has an idea to get us out of this, I'm all ears!" Theo suggested.

"I was hoping YOU had an idea!" Casey answered.

"SOMEBODY come up with an idea before we're bug food!" Lily interrupted.

Just as the monster was about to launch its final attack, it gets picked up by the powerful talons of a flying silver spirit. Seeing Arachnikhan struggle in its grasp, the spirit drops the spider only for it to be caught and pounced on by the silhouette of a black feline. Even though the cat slashed furiously at Arachnikhan, it barely made a sound.

"What the..." Lily asked in shock.

"What was that?" Theo wanted to know too.

"It looked like an eagle!" Casey observed.

"And a...a panther?" Lily wondered.

Camille, who was also in disbelief of the current event, glowered at her servant.

"What are you waiting for? ATTACK!"

"BACK OFF!"

Two voices echoed through the air and those fighting looked up to see two forms standing on top of a building.

"Who's that?" Theo asked.

"SILENCE OF THE PANTHER! JUNGLE FURY BLACK RANGER!" The woman in black shouted with confidence.

"FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE! JUNGLE FURY SILVER RANGER!" Shouted the man in silver with the same amount of confidence.

After they both struck their poses, both rangers jumped down from the building to land between the three teens and their enemies. Camille was annoyed at the two interlopers.

"And just who do you think you are?" Camille asked seemingly unimpressed.

"The exterminators!" The Black Ranger answered.

"We're here to take care of their bug problem." The Silver ranger added.

"We'll just see about that! Give me your best shot!" Arachnikhan dared.

"Okay! **CALL TO THE BEAST INSIDE! UNLEASH THE EAGLE!"**

The spirit of the silver eagle flew majestically from his body and charged at Arachnikhan and started using its sharp talons to rip into the monster's exoskeleton.

"Want some more? **CALL TO THE BEAST INSIDE! RELEASE THE PANTHER!"**

The sleek, ebony spirit of the panther leapt from her form and charged after the spider as if it were prey. Its claws were as sharp as scalpels and wasted no time in tearing into Arachnikhan until it reverted to its second Rinshi form.

"RETREAT!" Shouted a cowardly Camille who vanished with her minion.

The two new rangers turned to face the three younger ones as soon as the coast was clear. The Black Ranger felt it was a good idea to disguise her voice just in case.

"Are you guys alright?"

"Yeah, thanks to you. Who are you?" Casey asked.

"We're friends. That's all we can say right now." The Silver Ranger answered.

"Well, thanks again for your help. We owe you one." Theo added.

"He's right, but we need to get going. Thanks again." Lily commented.

The three young rangers ran off leaving the other two to go back to the hospital. When the coast was clear, Keenan and Gwen powered down. After a few minutes of that...

"EW EW EW EW EW!! YUCK! I frickin' HATE spiders!!" Gwen shrieked. "Thank goodness I can't touch it when I'm wearing my ranger uniform!"

"You sure hid it from them well. I doubt they have a clue you were afraid of it." Keenan commented.

"And I deserve an Oscar for that performance! I mean WHY a spider? Why not a snake? I can handle a snake. I'll take NO legs over eight, hairy...creepy...scary legs anyday!" Gwen said shuddering.

"Well. in that case...you might wanna stay still." Keenan ordered.

"Why?" She asked keeping perfectly still.

Keenan grabbed a piece of paper, scooped up the tiny spider that had landed on her shoulder and set it on a leaf outside the window.

"That's why." He said plainly.

Gwen just looked at the little spider as it crawled away then at Keenan. She just let out a nervous chuckle before her eyes rolled backwards and she fainted dead away. All Keenan could do was roll his eyes at his unconscious friend.

Meanwhile, in the training room located above JKP, the three rangers were talking over each other trying to tell RJ what happened.

"Whoa, hold on! One at a time." RJ ordered with a chuckle.

Again, the three all spoke at once causing RJ to hold his hands up.

"Okay, okay. Let's try this. Theo, you go first."

"Do you know who those rangers were?"

"No, I don't. They're members of the Order of the Claw obviously, but I don't know who they are. I do remember stories of an eagle and a panther ranger, but nothing was mentioned about their identities."

"Wow. And I thought WE were the only Power Rangers right now. Do you think there might be others out there?" Casey asked.

"I wish I could answer that. This whole thing's got my zen working overtime. Maybe they'll show up again?"

"I hope so. We could use some more allies." Lily added.

"Well, we can talk about this more later. Right now, we need to get the place ready for the evening shift." RJ ordered much to the dismayed groans of his employees.

A little later, the evening shift was in full swing with the place packed. Casey ant the others couldn't think of anything except the new rangers who helped them earlier.

"Man, I can't stop thinking about them. Same costumes, same symbols..." Casey mused.

"I know. And those moves...wow!" Lily added.

As the dinner crowd enjoyed their food, a familiar face walked in. It was Gwen; she had her hair down and was wearing black jeans with a lilac top. She saw Casey and the gang and stopped by to say hello.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?"

"Gwen, hi. Things are going great." Casey said.

"Hi, Gwen. Welcome back." Fran added.

"Thanks, Fran."

"So what brings you here this evening?" Theo asked.

"Oh, the fact that I'm hungry and it's WAY too hot to cook." She answered with a chuckle.

"Tell me about it. Oh, I was watching the news this afternoon and I heard there were two new rangers!" Fran mentioned.

"Really?" Gwen asked pretending to be surprised.

"Yeah, oh, hang on. They're replaying the news report now. Let me turn it up."

Fran turned the volume up on the t.v. and the anchors were commenting on the latest Ocean Bluff news.

"And in today's news, those amazing heroes, the Power Rangers, manhandled the forces of evil with two new rangers on their side." The female anchor reported.

"As of yet, nobody knows who these new rangers are or where they came from, but one thing is certain, we're ALL glad they arrived." The male reporter commented.

"Awesome! So do you think they'll be back?" Gwen asked.

"I know they will. The Power Rangers have never let us down yet." Lily answered.

"So true. Well, I'll just get a table."

"Right this way." Theo said with a smile.

As he ushered Gwen to one of their best tables, RJ came out of the kitchen as he did when he first met the threesome from Pai Zhuq, with flour all over his face and clothes but this time he had some pasta hanging from his hat. He had no idea that his crush was in the restaurant and Casey couldn't pass up this opportunity.

"Um, RJ, you might want to change. Gwen's here." He said smirking.

"Okay, I'll go get the...e-excu-excuse me?" He stammered, doing a double take.

"He said Gwen's here...as in here right NOW!" Lily said giggling.

She nudged her head to where Theo was pulling Gwen's chair for her. RJ caught sight of her and he had the same silly grin he had the last time.

"She's really here."

He took one step before remembering where he was before. He looked down at himself and his eyes grew as wide as pizza pans.

"I can't let her see me like this! I'll be right back...DON'T LET HER LEAVE!"

RJ ran back up the stairs to clean up and the girls had to laugh at this.

"Looks like love is in the air." Fran sighed.

"And what would you like to order?" Theo asked with a fake Italian accent.

"The lasagne looks good, and a side salad." Gwen answered.

"Coming right up."

Gwen smiled at Theo and then at Fran who filled her glass with ice water. 15 minutes later, RJ walks back in, cleaned up and dressed casually, but nicely. He takes a deep breath and walks to Gwen's table.

"Hi, Gwen."

"RJ, hi."

"How are you this evening?" He asked fiddling with his fingers.

"Fine, just fine. Decided to stop in for dinner." She answered grinning.

"That's cool." He said looking around for a second.

"Wait, you're eating alone? I thought you'd be here with your boyfriend." RJ wondered aloud.

"Oh, I don't have one." She commented.

In the back, the four employees were watching everything from the sidelines, each one silently cheering their boss and friend on.

"Go for it, RJ." Theo whispered.

"See, that's not right. Nobody should eat alone. Would you like some company?" He asked with hope.

"I'd love some." She answered with a sweet smile.

"YES!" The four teens cheered quietly.

"Lily, better make that order for two." Casey quipped.

"I'm all over it."

She happily went to the back to prepare the double order. Meanwhile, at Dai Shi's lair...

Dai Shi was sitting on his throne, tapping his foot looking very displeased.

"Camille, tell me you didn't fail. Tell me two new rangers DIDN'T show up to their rescue. TELL ME YOU HAVE A PLAN TO FIX THIS!!"

"Not to worry, sire. I've got it covered." Camille said reassuringly.

"For your sake...YOU BETTER!" He said in a low growl.

"Anything for you, Master." She said bowing over and over as she left his sight. When she was alone, she worried about her future if she COULDN'T deliver her promise.

"I need to turn this around and fast."

Back at JKP...

Gwen and RJ were making small talk and enjoying each other's company while the order was being filled.

"So tell me...what is this fixation you have with bananas?" She asked with a slight giggle.

"I wouldn't call it a fixation, really."

"An obsession?"

"No, not that, either." He retorted with a slight smirk.

"An unhealthy attachment?"

"No." He said with a chuckle.

"A passionate love affair..."

"Let's go with unhealthy attachment." He laughed raising his hands in defeat.

Both were laughing and having a great time while the teens were getting their order ready.

"Oh, they look so cute together." Fran observed.

"Is it ready?" Theo asked.

"Right here. Lasagne and side salad times two." She said taking the order to the table.

"Here you go, guys. Enjoy."

"Thanks, Lily. This look yummy."

RJ watched as Gwen took the first bite.

"Mmm, it IS good." She commented.

"I'm glad you like it. It's my own recipe."

"Really?"

"Yeah, do you like it?"

"It's delicious." She said with a smile.

"Great."

They both ate their dinner happily as the teens watched them from the back. They were very pleased with the outcome.

"I think they're hitting it off." Casey said.

"I knew it. Look at RJ. I've never seen him so happy." Lily added.

"It's like a romance movie...but better." Fran added with a sigh.

The couple finish their meal and Gwen reached into her purse to pay the bill when...

"Please. It's on me." RJ said.

"I-I couldn't."

"What? What's wrong?"

"I don't want to put you out like this. You don't have to..."

"No, I want to. Please."

There was just something about RJ she couldn't say no to. Maybe it was those puppy-dog eyes he was giving her.

"Oh, okay. Thanks."She said smiling

"_Just don't give me that puppy-dog look. I'll never refuse you anything if you keep looking at me like that."_ She thought to herself.

"_I'd give you the moon if it meant you'd smile at me again."_ RJ thought to himself.

"You're quite welcome. May I walk you out?"

"I'd like that."

RJ walked around to help Gwen out of her chair like a gentleman and walked her out of the restaurant, much to the delight of his employees.

"Way to go, RJ." Casey whispered.

In the parking lot, RJ walks Gwen to her black Toyota Camry and opens the door for her.

"I had a nice time. Thank you so much." She said, getting into her car.

"It was my pleasure. Um...this might be sudden; I-I mean we just met and all, but...I was wondering..."

"Wondering what?"

"What are you doing this Friday?"

"Nothing. I'm free then. Why?"

"Would you like to go see a movie or something? My treat."

"Sounds like fun."

Inside, RJ was doing backflips.

"Cool, then it's a date. I'll pick you up at six."

"It's a date. See you later, RJ." She said as she drove off.

RJ was on cloud nine and when he walked back inside, he had a noticeable spring in his step.

"Whoo hoo!" He shouted.

"What happened?" Fran asked.

"I just asked Gwen out on a date...and she said YES!"

His friends congratulated him. They were rooting for him all the way.

"Nice job, RJ!" Theo congratulated.

"Way to go! We knew you could do it!" Lily added.

"Thanks, guys."

"So, what movie are you taking her to?" Casey asked.

"The Forbidden Kingdom with Jet Li and Jackie Chan."

"Awesome! But do you think she'll like that kind of movie?"

"I don't know how, but something tells me she will."

"Well, I know you two will have fun."

"Thanks. I want this date to be perfect."

She slowly walked past his employees and went up the stairs leaving the four chuckling.

"It's official. He's in love." Theo chuckled.

"I think it's sweet." Fran added.

"Well, it's getting late. The last customer is gone so let's clean up."

Everyone agreed and split up the chores so they can close sooner. Meanwhile, Gwen was entering her apartment and her thoughts immediately went back to her impromptu dinner date with RJ. He wasn't like any guy she's ever met. He was cute, he was funny, he was charming...

"_And he's a nut!"_ She thought to herself. _"Maybe that's what I like about him? Who knows. All I know is I have a date Friday with RJ. I HAVE to tell Keenan!"_

End of CHAPTER TWO

There's more coming! Can you stand the suspense?! ;)


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I didn't say this before, so I'm saying it now. AHEM! I DO NOT OWN POWER RANGERS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM! So, don't sue me, I'm as broke as the Ten Commandments!

ON WITH THE FIC!

--

A couple of days passed and it was soon Friday...the day of Gwen's date. That afternoon, she was doing her rounds at the Animal Hospital with Keenan. He knew about her upcoming date and noticed the smile she had on her face since telling him.

"Gwen, has anyone told you that you look like the Joker? You've been smiling since your dinner at JKP." He said teasingly.

"I can't help it, Keenan. There's just something about this guy. I just hope our date goes well."

"It'll be fine. Don't jinx it. I'm just sorry I don't get to meet the guy who swept you off your feet."

"Oh, you will. He's gonna pick me up here at six."

"Wait, why is he picking you...you forgot to give him your address, didn't you?"

"And my phone number." She said biting her lip nervously.

All Keenan could do was shake his head at her absent-mindedness. When it came to the hospital, she's on the ball. When it came to dating, she was all thumbs.

"Not...one...word." She warned.

"Okay."

Keenan left the room and burst out laughing.

"OH, CAN IT, KEENAN!" She shouted!

She always could GET mad at Keenan, she just could never STAY mad at him...hard as she tried. She just chuckled and picked up her cell phone to call RJ at JKP.

Meanwhile at JKP...

The lunch rush wasn't as busy as it was a few days ago, but still busy enough to keep everyone scrambling. RJ was a little preoccupied; he had something else on his mind...or rather someONE. He was brought out of his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder.

"So, RJ, you ready for your big date?" Theo asked with a grin.

"Ready as I'll ever be. I just hope I don't make a total fool of myself in front of her." RJ wondered with a sigh.

"Don't worry, you won't. You'll be just fine. Just be yourself and she can't help but like you." Lily said reassuringly.

As his friends offered more words of encouragement, the phone rang. Casey, who was manning the register, answered it.

"Jungle Karma Pizza."

"Hey, is this Casey?"

"Yes it is, Who's this?"

"I'll give you a hint. I'm the lady who had a lion kiss her."

"Catwoman?" Casey asked with a weird look ion his face.

"Um...no. Althought I have been called that a few times. It's me, Gwen, the vet from the Animal Hospital?"

"Oh! Hi, Gwen. How are you?"

"I'm doing just fine." She answered laughing. "Is RJ there?"

"Yeah, he is. Hang on." Casey held his hand over the mouth of the receiver and called to his boss. "Hey, RJ. It's Gwen. Make it good, Romeo." He said holding up the phone.

"Gwen's on the phone? Oh...OH!" He straightened himself up, cleared his throat, slicked back his hair and walked to Casey who rolled his eyes. "Do I look okay?"

"It's a phone call, RJ, she can't see you." Fran said giggling.

"You never know. Wish me luck guys."

"You're gonna need it." Theo added smirking.

RJ just stuck his tongue out at Theo before picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, RJ."

"Hi. How are you?"

"I'm doing okay. I just realized that I never gave you my home address or phone number the other night. So, maybe you could pick me up at the animal hospital since you know where it is. You can bring the others so you can meet some of my friends."

"Sure, that sounds great."

"Great. So what time were you gonna come get me?"

"How about 5:30? That should give us enough time to meet your friends before the movie."

"Okay, I'll be ready by then. See you soon."

"You, too. Bye."

"Bye."

RJ hangs up the phone and and nearly jumps when he sees his four employees leaning over the counter. They were eavesdropping.

"Well? What did she say?" Fran asked impatiently.

"She wants me to pick her up at the vet hospital. She also wants you guys to come so you can meet some of her friends." RJ answered.

"Yeah, you bet!" Theo agreed.

"I'm game." Fran added.

"Count me in." Lily chimed in.

"Same here." Casey finished.

"Great. We'll close early so we can get ready. Especially me. I wanna look good for this."

"You mean for HER!" They all teased.

"You know I can still fire you, right?" RJ shot back jokingly.

Everyone laughed as time wore on. RJ decided to close shop at 4 P.M. to give him and his friends time to get ready to go visit Gwen. RJ debated against whether to shave his five o'clock shadow or not and decided that since Gwen met him with it, it should stay. Everyone met up at the vet hospital at 5:30 on the dot and went inside.

"Hello?"

One of the interns saw the group and welcomed them in.

"Hi. Are you here to pick up a cute pet?" The male intern asked.

"You could say that." Casey whispered with a smirk causing RJ to elbow him in the ribs.

"We're here to see Gwen. Is she here?" RJ asked.

"Oh, yeah. She's expecting you. She'll be out in a minute. You can wait here if you like."

"Thanks." Lily said.

As the five took their seats in the waiting room, Gwen walked in wearing a nice spaghetti strap dress and her hair up.

"Hey, you made it."

Everyone stood up to say hi and RJ couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you. You clean up pretty good, yourself." She complimented with a wink.

"_And I'm glad you didn't shave. I like 'em a little rough around the edges."_ She thought to herself.

"So, this is where you work? Nice!" Casey added.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool. Come on, I'll show you some of my patients."

She had no idea why, but she decided to take them to the wild animal compound where she held the big cats she was caring for. She walked to a large male Bengal Tiger and to none of the interns' surprise, he was extremely calm around her as she stroked its back.

"Guys, meet Tahj. He was rescued from a guy who thought it would be cool to have a tiger as a pet. When we got him, he was seriously underweight."

"Really?" Fran and Theo asked simultaneously.

"Mmhmm. We also work with the local SPCA."

"Wow." Casey whispered.

He'd only seen tigers in books and on t.v. so seeing one in person was a real treat. He carefully walked to Tahj and held out his hand.

"To keep him calm, you have to chuff." Gwen instructed.

"What's that?"

"It's a sound you make that calms him down. It's kind of like a whistle but not as sharp. Like this."

She made the chuffing sound to Tahj and the tiger nuzzled her face as if he was a kitten.

"Now you try."

Casey did as told and made the sound just like Gwen did before. The tiger could sense his spirit and leaned his head into Casey's outstretched hand. He wanted Casey to know it was okay to pet him.

"This is so cool!" He said petting the tiger.

"Wow, he likes you, Casey." Lily said in amazement.

"And this is Cita. She and another big cat here were rescued from a circus where they were treated cruelly."

Gwen brought everyone to a pen where a sleek cheetah was grooming her two babies.

"When we brought her here, she was pregnant. Soon after, she gave birth to her two cubs. And that was just a month ago."

"Awwww. Cute!"

Lily couldn't resist. She held out her hand to let the cheetah sniff. The mother went first and licked her hand. Then it motioned for her children to say hi. The tiny cubs bounded over and played with the yellow ranger. They could sense she was one of them.

"Adorable." She said giggling.

"And this is Olmec. He was with Cita when we rescued him. For a while he didn't trust anyone...not even ME, but he soon learned we wanted to help him."

"So cool." Theo said to his kindred spirit.

Everyone gasped as the jaguar as he jumped into Theo knocking him over, but were soon relieved when they saw him licking his face.

"Hey, cut it out! I just washed my face!" He said laughing.

Gwen was amazed at how easily the animals took to her new friends. She thought only she and Keenan were this good with them.

And this is our newest patient, Midnight. We found him in the woods caught in a hunter's trap and nearly starved to death.

Without another word, the wolf immediately walked towards RJ.

"Hey, fella."

He held out his hand for the wolf to sniff. The wolf was cautious at first but soon licked his hand as a sign of trust.

"Wow, and I thought I was good with animals." She said with a smile. "Oh, there's someone else I want you to meet."

"Another animal?" Fran asked.

"Yup. This one's called a CHOW HOUND!" She looked to her friend Keenan with a smirk.

"Ha ha, you should write for Scrubs." He replied sarcastically.

"Guys, this is my best friend, Keenan. Keenan, this is Casey, Lily, Theo, Fran and RJ."

"Nice to meet you all. Gwen's told me about you guys."

"Nice meeting you, too. So do you work here also?" Theo asked.

"Yeah, I'm a vet here, too. You could say I'm her right hand man."

"His words, not mine." She retorted with a wink to the group.

At that moment, a golden eagle flew in and perched itself on the desk next to Keenan.

"Serena! Guys, I want you to meet my pet eagle, Serena."

"Oh, she's beautiful." Fran said.

"Thanks, I found her in the woods with a broken wing so I brought her here and nursed her back to health. We tried releasing her to go back to the wild, but she kept coming back. So, I decided to keep her."

"Now, I want you meet my pet."

From the same room Serena flew in from, the figure of a sleek, black panther sauntered in gracefully.

"Everyone, meet Kiva."

"She's gorgeous." RJ said awestruck.

"Isn't she? Kiva, say hi to RJ."

Kiva let out a low growl but not as a threat. It was her way of greeting.

"She was brought in as a tiny cub after her mother was killed by poachers." Gwen remembered sadly how small and helpless Kiva was as a baby.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Lily apologized. The cheetah cub she had snuck out of the pen was now on her head and chirped its apology as well.

"Thanks." She said as she stroked Kiva's ebony fur. "Well, it's getting close to movie time."

Gwen reached for her small purse when her best friend realized something.

"Wait. You never said WHICH of these guys was taking you out." Keenan reminded.

"Oops, sorry...and shut up, Keenan." She shot knowing her best friend would come in with a comment about her absent-mindedness regarding dating. "It's RJ." She said with a smile.

"Oh, so YOU'RE the guy who's got my friend grinning like Cheshire Cat all week."

Keenan smirked as Gwen chuckled nervously. She grabbed her purse and as she walked by her friend, she flicked his ear knowing he hated it.

"OW! HEY!"

"Let's go, RJ. Keenan, can you give everyone else the tour while I'm out?"

"As long as you NEVER flick my ear again, sure."

"Can't make any promises." She said winking. "Shall we?"

"After you, milady." RJ said bowing.

"OOOOOH!" They all shouted.

"Work it, RJ!" Lily shouted.

RJ gave the thumbs up to his friends before leaving with his date. Keenan chuckled and looked towards his new friends and noticed the cheetah cub was missing from Lily's head. He looked down and noticed her jacket was bulgier than normal.

"Um...Lily? I know girls don't get pregnant THAT fast. You're not trying to smuggle the baby cheetah out of here in your jacket, are you?"

"Now, why would you say that?" Lily asked with a nervous chuckle.

At that moment, the cub chirped from inside and wriggled enough to let his tail stick out from the bottom. Keenan looked at her with his version of The People's Eyebrow.

"WHAT tail?"

Casey shook his head as Theo smacked himself on the forehead.

"Lily." Keenan asked sternly, but gently.

Lily giggled nervously and opened her jacket to reveal the baby cheetah. It poked its tiny head out and let out a cute mew.

"Bad cheetah, how did you get in there?" She tried so hard to play it off.

"Give him here." Keenan said smiling.

"Awww, do I have to? He's so cute and cuddly."

"And he's gonna grow up to sink his teeth into your neck. Do you want that?"

"I'll take that risk."

"Lily!"

"Oh, ALRIGHT! Here."

She pouted and reluctantly handed the cub back to Keenan so he could take him back to his mother. Lily waved to the baby and it chirped back.

"Bye, cutie."

"You did the right thing, Lily." Casey affirmed.

"Oh, I know. But he was just so cute. I couldn't help it."

"Yeah, babies tend to have that affect on people." Keenan chimed in as he returned.

"So, do you just take care of wild animals?" Theo asked.

"No, we take care of the usual dogs, cats and a few exotic pets, too. Like this snake."

Keenan showed them a large snake that was the color of french vanilla ice cream.

"An albino python, wow! Those things are super rare!" Fran mused.

"Can we touch it?" Casey asked.

"Sure. Let me take him out." He carefully opened the terrarium and lifted the python out with the help of another intern. "Well, here it is."

"It's eyes are even pink." Lily noted.

Casey reached out to touch it first.

"Very cool."

One by one, each teen reached out to pet the cream-colored reptile.

"Okay, let me put it back." As he placed the snake back in its terrarium, Theo asked him another question.

"So, how did you get to work here? How did you and Gwen meet?"

"Gwen and I have known each other since we were seven. She's like my sister, hence the ear flicking." He said with a chuckle. "Anyway, after we graduated from college, we decided to open up this veterinary hospital because we both loved animals."

"Wow, that's so awesome." Fran said.

"If you guys come with me, you can check out the nursery."

"There's a nursery here, too? I love kids!" Fran exclaimed.

"Not that kind of nursery. A lot of the animals we rescue are pregnant so we have a fully equipped delivery room." Keenan explained.

"Wow, let's check it out!"

Casey and company followed Keenan through the hallway as they walked to the delivery room wing.

Meanwhile at the Ocean Bluff Megaplex...

RJ walked around to open Gwen's door for her after arriving at the movies.

"Quite the gentleman. So, which movie are we seeing?"

"It's a surprise." He answered with a sly grin.

He led her to the ticket booth and spoke to the usher,

"Two tickets for The Forbidden Kingdom, please." RJ asked.

"No frickin' way!" She said.

"You like kung fu movies?"

"LIKE them? You're talking to a die hard Bruce Lee fan!"

"Nice! Guess who's in this?"

"Who?"

"Jackie Chan and Jet Li."

"Oh, this is so gonna rock!"

RJ smiled at her and paid for the tickets before going to the concession counter.

"Whatever you want, it's my treat."

"You sure know how to treat a girl, don't you?"

"I try." He said smirking a bit.

"How about some popcorn and a soda?"

"Your wish is my command." RJ said with a bow. "Two sodas and a jumbo popcorn, please."

The vendor came back with their order.

"That'll be 8.50."

RJ reached for his wallet and paid for the snacks.

"There you go."

"Thanks. Enjoy the movie."

"We will, thanks. Let's go get some good seats before they're all taken." Gwen said carrying the sodas.

"Right behind you." RJ replied as he carried the popcorn.

Back at the Vet Hospital...

"And this is our state-of-the-art nursery and delivery room. We could deliver a human baby here if it came down to it." Keenan explained.

"_GOD, I hope it never comes down to it."_ He thought to himself.

Through out the wing, there were vets and interns looking after expectant mothers, newborn babies even some looking into incubators at eggs just ready to hatch. Keenan too the four to the delivery room where a mother cat was in the process of giving birth.

"Wow." The four teens whispered.

"Get that kitten breathing. You're doing great, mama. Just one more to go." The lead doctor said in a soothing voice.

After all was said and done, the mother gave birth to five healthy kittens. They mewed helplessly and wiggled in the nurses' hands crying to be put with their mom.

"Awww, they're so cute!" Fran exclaimed.

All five feline infants were cleaned off and set beside their mother so she could suckle them.

"Wow, this is so incredible." Casey said with wonder.

"B-E-A-U-tiful." Keenan agreed.

"I'll say." Theo concurred.

"It's so awesome you get to be a part of something like this." Lily stated.

"It is. But it's not all good. There are some times we have to humanely euthanize some animals for reasons ranging from severe injuries or sickness to extremely unstable behavior that prevents them from being suitable for adoption." Keenan explained seriously. "That's the only drawback to this job. And it's not the animals' fault."

"That's awful! Cruelty like that makes me ashamed I'm human." Fran stated.

"Well, it's a good thing you and Gwen opened this hospital." Theo reminded.

"Thanks. Someone has to speak for those who can't, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. They all liked animals too and seeing someone so dedicated to helping them did their heart good. They were just about to leave the nusery wing when a loud explosion was heard. The direction it was coming from concerned Keenan immensely.

"What was that?" Fran asked as she jumped from the sudden sound.

"The wild animal compound! The big cats! I have to go to them!"

Keenan was about to knock them over to see if his patients were safe when Casey stopped him.

"I don't think it came from there. You stay here, Keenan. I'll go check it out."

"Just be careful."

Casey nodded before running out of the wing and towards the source of the explosion. He ran out of the building to see none other than Camille with a smug look on her face.

"Fancy meeting you here, Red Ranger." Camille said dripping with sarcasm.

"Camille!"

"Awww, are the widdle kiddies on a field twip? How pwecious. I hope I didn't interrupt."

"It's nothing that a good pounding won't fix! JUNGLE BEAST! SPIRIT UNLEASHED!"

Casey morphed into his ranger uniform and wasted no time in engaging the camouflage master.

"CALL TO THE BEAST INSIDE!! FREE THE TIGER!"

His majestic tiger spirit charges at Camille and sinks its teeth into her before throwing her into a nearby brick wall with a loud crash.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!!"

"It's only gonna get worse for you from here on so why don't you do yourself a favor and leave?!" Casey ordered.

"Make me!"

"Gladly!"

Back inside, Lily and Theo felt they needed to help their friend.

"Um Fran, why don't you stay here with Keenan? I'm gonna see what's taking Casey so long." Lily said.

"Okay. Be careful."

"I'm coming with you." Theo offered.

Both ran out to meet up with their leader leaving Keenan and Fran in the nursery. Keenan ordered his staff to go and take cover elsewhere. He knew what was going on and debated on whether or not to call Gwen from her date to fight.

"_I don't want to interrupt Gwen's date unless it's absolutely necessary. TOTALLY last resort."_ He pondered.

Unknown to the two of them, some rinshi managed to sneak inside. They were planning on ambushing them while the rangers were busy. Fran turned around when she heard something being knocked from the table behind and was face to face with three rinshi.

"AAAAAHHHH! KEENAN, HELP!"

"Fran!"

Keenan grabbed Fran from behind and pulled her away while kicking the rinshi back.

"Fran, go into the delivery room and barricade yourself in there! You'll be safe!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. Just hurry!"

Fran nodded and did as told. She ran into the delivery room and locked herself inside before hiding under a table. Keenan took a fighting stance and got ready to fight. At the same time he had to make sure the animals weren't hurt in the crossfire.

"BRING IT!"

The Rinshi hopped towards Keenan and proceeded to attack. The young vet uses the skills he learned at the Pai Zhuq to defend himself without putting the animals in harm's way. All Fran could do was listen to the fight from under the table in the delivery room while the other rangers dealt with Camille.

Meanwhile at the movies...

RJ and Gwen were enjoying The Forbidden kingdom and its many fight scenes.

"I was wondering if they would ever team up to do something like this. It's so surreal." She whispered to RJ.

"I know what you mean. This has been a long time coming." He whispered back.

They were sipping their sodas and eating from the large tub of popcorn. During one scene, they both reached in for a handful and their hands touched. They smiled shyly at each other and focused back on the silver screen in front of them. RJ felt emboldened by the slight encounter and decided to try the old 'fake yawn and arm-around-the-shoulder' trick. He went into his fake yawn and stretched up. Gwen discreetly looked down and saw his shirt raise just enough to reveal some of his toned abs.

"_Yum."_ She thought to herself.

RJ then reached around and placed his left arm around Gwen's shoulder. He looked down at her when she turned to look up at him.

"Comfortable?" He asked.

"I am now." She smiled as she leaned into him.

"_YES! She is totally into me!"_ He screamed in his mind.

As they settled into each other, the faint scent of her perfume was noticed by RJ. Even though it was light and barely noticeable over the buttered popcorn, it still intoxicated his senses. He took a deep breath to savor the perfume and she felt his chest rise.

"You smell nice."

When he whispered into her ear with his smooth and slightly deepened voice, it sent shivers through her that she felt to the core. When she took a breath to calm herself, the scent of his cologne flooded her senses the same way her perfume did to him. She became lost in it and whispered back.

"So do you."

The lilt in her voice sent sparks shooting right to his heart. He could stay like this forever. Or he could have if the sounds of screaming movie patrons didn't interrupt their moment.

"What's going on?" HE asked just a bit annoyed.

"I don't know. Let's go check it out." She suggested.

They leave their snacks and run to the lobby to find Arachnikhan destroying everything and terrorizing people.

"RUN! RUN AWAY IN FEAR!" The monster roared.

"I hate spiders! I mean I HATE spiders!" Gwen squealed.

She thought to herself that the last time she faced Arachnikhan, her burst of bravery was a fluke because right now, she didn't want to be in the same STATE.

"I won't let him hurt you, Gwen. I promise." He told her as he stood in front of her protectively. "LEAVE THOSE PEOPLE ALONE!"

"As if a little gnat like you can stop me!" Arachnikhan taunted.

He blasts everything in sight while people ran frantically in all directions. RJ wanted to jump in to fight but also wanted to make sure Gwen was okay.

"Are you alright?"

"Just keep that thing away from me and we're cool. But we have to get everyone out of here before they get blasted."

"Okay, you get everyone to safety. I'll do what I can with him!"

"Be careful, RJ."

He winks at her before going after Arachnikhan. He made it personal by ruining his date and RJ had no qualms about taking his frustrations out on the eight legged freak. They fight furiously throughout the mangled lobby as Gwen ushered everyone outside. In the midst of the commotion, a little girl tripped and fell skinning her knee. Gwen saw her and ran to help her up when Arachnikhan caught sight of her. The monster took aim and RJ notices where he was aiming.

"GWEN! LOOK OUT!!"

Gwen looked up to see Arachnikhan ready to shoot and she couldn't move out of the way in time. She grabs the little girl in her arms to shield her and braced herself. She waited for the inevitable explosion but none came; what she did hear was...

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

RJ had jumped in front of Gwen and the little girl, taking the blast that was meant for her. He fell to the floor groaning and holding his side in pain.

"RJ!!"

She let go of the little girl who ran to her mother and scrambled towards her fallen date.

"RJ! RJ, are you okay?! Say something!"

"I'm alright." He said groaning. "What about you?"

"Yeah, thanks to you."

"I promised I wouldn't let him hurt you. And I always keep my word."

"You brave fool...thank you."

She smiled at him and his heroic deed, but at the same time, she was concerned he was hurt more than he was letting on. She looked up to see if the threat was still present...

"That's weird. It's gone!" She observed. _"Not that I'M complaining!"_ She thought to herself. "Let's get out of here. I need to look you over."

"Okay...AHHH!"

"I'm sorry!"

"No, it's fine. You didn't do anything."

"Let me help you to the car."

Gwen gently lifted RJ to a standing position and helped him to the passenger seat of his car. She took his keys and went into the driver side. She put the keys in the ignition and took out her cell. She called the first number that came to mind.

"_Pick up, man!"_ She thought as she drove back to the hospital.

Back at the hospital...

By this time Theo and Lily were already morphed and had joined Casey in his fight with Camille. Together, the three of them had a surprisingly tough time because instead of fighting, Camille just ducked and dodged every punch and kick they tried to land. It was as if Camille wasn't even trying to fight.

"Three against one. Hardly fair odds, don't you agree?" Camille mused aloud.

"Like you know anything about fighting fair!" Lily shot back.

"Hmmph. I don't have time to waste playing with kittens. Ciao."

She sneered and vanished before their eyes. The three rangers just stood there confused.

"I don't believe it! We scared her off!" Theo shouted excitedly.

"I don't know. Something doesn't click." Lily wondered.

"She's right. I don't trust Camille as far as I can throw her. We better check on Fran and Keenan and see if they're alright." Casey ordered.

Lily and Theo agreed and ran back inside. In the nursery wing, Keenan knocked on the door to let Fran know the coast was clear.

"Fran, are you okay? You can come out now."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. It's clear." Keenan reassured.

Fran slowly unlocked the door and walked out taking a quick look around. At that point, Casey and the others ran in wearing the clothes they had on before.

"Is everything okay in here, Keenan?" Lily asked.

"Just peachy. How about you, guys?"

He knew full well what caused it but didn't want to divulge anything that could expose him and Gwen.

"We're good. The Power Rangers came and cleaned house!" Theo said.

Keenan and Fran sighed in relief when the young vet's cell started to ring. He looked at the number and knew it was Gwen.

"Talk to me."

"Keenan, it's me! We're coming back!" She said with urgency.

"Is everything okay?"

"No, we got attacked by some ugly spider monster." She shuddered. "RJ got hurt protecting me and a little girl."

"Are you okay, Gwen?" Lily asked since Keenan put Gwen on speaker phone.

"I'm fine, but I need to check his injuries. We're coming in now. Keenan, get a room ready, STAT!"

"On it!" Keenan said hanging up his cell.

Keenan immediately rounded up some of his doctors and prepped a room for RJ.

"Wait, I thought this was an animal hospital?" Casey asked confused.

"It is, but before that, it was a regular hospital and Gwen thought it was good idea to keep some rooms to treat people just in case." Keenan explained.

"Way to plan ahead." Lily remarked.

A few minutes later...

"Guys!"

Keenan brought a gurney to his friend and the two of them helped RJ onto it.

"You okay, RJ?" Casey asked his master and friend.

"I feel weird." RJ groaned.

"You'll be fine, man. Gwen's the best doctor here. You're in good hands." Keenan praised.

"I hope so. I cant help thinking he got hurt because of me." She lamented.

"It wasn't your fault. Please don't beat yourself up about it." Lily said comfortingly.

Gwen nodded and gave a guilty sigh as she went to RJ. Seeing him lying on that gurney just made her feel worse. Despite Lily's words, she still felt he got hurt because of her.

"We'll take care of you RJ." Gwen said.

"Thank you."

"No, thank YOU. And I'm sorry our date got ruined."

"You have nothing to be sorry for...and before you say it, no, it's NOT your fault I got hurt. I promised I'd protect you. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Gwen just gave him a sweet smile before he was wheeled off to the exam room.

TBC...

Come on, Like Janet Jackson, I need some FEEDBACK, FEEDBACK, OH! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Hmmm...only 8 reviews...Is my fic THAT bad? :( Hope this picks up some business.

"Who did this to him?" Casey asked.

"Some huge spider monster that attacked us at the theater." She said with a shudder. "If RJ hadn't stepped in..."

The memory was still so fresh and vivid in her mind, she had to sit down in one of the waiting room chairs. She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth in the hard, plastic seat. When the others looked at her, they saw that she hung her head down she was visibly shaking. Casey moved close to see her face and she looked as if she would start crying right there. Growing more concerned by the minute, Lily decided to break the tension and uncomfortable silence that seemed to fill the room.

"Gwen, what's wrong?"

Nothing. Gwen just kept rocking back and forth in the chair with her arms around her like a makeshift cocoon.

"Gwen, please, you can talk to us." Theo added.

Still nothing. Now the foursome was getting worried.

"Come on; say something. You're scaring us." Fran pleaded.

"I froze." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean 'you froze'?" Casey asked confused.

"Just what I said; I froze. Look, no offense to any of you, and I appreciate that you're trying to console me, but I really don't want to talk about it right now."

She was thankful they were there to comfort her, but so far all she felt was claustrophobic. She had to get out of there and at the moment, she didn't care where she went. Without saying a word, she stood up and started to walk away from the four teens and was about to go outside to clear her head when Theo shouted.

"Gwen, stop!"

"Theo, I said I didn't want to talk about it." She said annoyed.

"That's not why I wanted you to stop." He said running after her.

"Then why..."

She turned her head to face Theo and that's when she saw it...the reason he told her to stop. On her shoulder was a big, black spider crawling closer to her neck. Her eyes grew wide with increasing fear as she screamed. In her panic, she brushed the arachnid off of her shoulder and stumbled backwards into the admittance desk. Theo ran to the bug as it tried to scurry away and stomped on the black menace. It made a loud and sickening crunch under his shoe that made Lily and Fran cringe in disgust.

"I think I'm gonna puke!" Lily remarked with a hand over her mouth as she dry heaved.

"There, crisis averted." Theo said with a puffed out chest.

"I don't think so. Look."

Fran pointed to the desk where Gwen was. She had slid down the front of it to the floor and had curled herself into a tight ball with her hands covering her head. The shaking she was doing before had now turned into visible shivering. Casey looked at her compact form and could see her shoulders shaking as she cried. Keenan was walking in to give his friends and update when he saw his best friend on the floor in a familiar position.

"Oh, no! Gwen!"

He ran to his fallen comrade and knelt beside her. The four teens watched in mixed confusion and worry as Keenan tried to get Gwen to look at him.

"Gwen, it's me...Keenan. Come on, look at me."

Gwen slowly looked up but caught sight of the dead spider on the floor and it just made her go into a panic all over again.

"GET IT AWAY FROM ME!!" She screamed as she tried to scramble backwards.

"Get that spider out of here! NOW!" Keenan shouted.

Fran grabbed a paper towel, scooped up the dead spider and took it to an outdoor trashcan where it was disposed of. She ran back in to join her friends and to let Keenan know the coast was clear. When he was convinced, he held her in a tight hug, hoping it would help her open up.

"See, it's gone. It's okay." Keenan told his friend in a soothing voice.

"So THAT'S why she said she froze." Lily uttered in realization.

One by one, they all put the pieces together...what happened here and what she said happened at the movies.

"She's afraid of spiders." Casey added.

"'Afraid' is putting it mildly." Keenan said seriously.

"What do you mean?" Fran asked.

Keenan looked down at Gwen and with body language, asked if he could tell them her story. Gwen just nodded silently. Since she didn't want to talk, she gave her friend the go-ahead.

"What I mean is her arachnophobia started a LONG time ago. It was around the time when we first met as kids...

_**It was a hot, summer day and a young Gwen and Keenan were outside with a group kids playing hide-and-seek. The latest round was ending with Gwen chasing Keenan in an attempt to catch him before reaching a twisted oak tree that was their designated 'home base'.**_

"_**You can't catch me!" Little Keenan sang teasingly.**_

"_**Just watch me!" A young Gwen shouted as she picked up speed.**_

_**Keenan used every trick in his book to lose his friend, but the drawback of having a best friend...they KNOW all your moves. And Gwen used what she knew to catch her buddy just a foot shy of touching the mangled tree in the vacant lot behind their house.**_

"_**GOTCHA! Now YOU'RE 'it'! FINALLY!" She shouted with a giggle.**_

_**Keenan had to laugh. As long as he could remember, nobody could tag him.**_

"_**Fine, I'm 'it'. You guys hide!"**_

_**Keenan went to the tree and covered his eyes. He slowly and loudly started to count giving the signal for the other kids to find a suitable hiding place. Gwen wanted to find a place where nobody could find her so she found an old, abandoned shed behind the condemned house on their street. She snuck inside and closed the door behind her until it clicked. It was pitch black except for a shaft of light that poked through a crack in the wooden wall. She peeked through a knothole in the wooden door and saw her friend Keenan running and looking for the other kids.**_

"_**He's never gonna find me." She said smiling.**_

_**After a minute of waiting, and sweating in that cramped shed, she felt something crawling on her arm. She looked down and saw that her arm had tiny spiders crawling all over it. She tried brushing them off but the ended up on the floor of the shed where they had better access to her legs. She started jumping up and down as she screamed and flailed her arms wildly. In a last ditch effort, she reached for the doorknob only to have it come out of the socket. She was locked in...trapped with dozens of spiders crawling all over her. She pounded on the door as hard as she could, shouting at the top of her lungs hoping her friend would hear her.**_

"_**HELP! KEENAN, HELP ME! GET ME OUT!"**_

_**She kept pounding on the door, praying someone would come find her. Her hysterical screams continued until she heard a familiar voice.**_

"_**Gwen!?"**_

"_**Keenan? KEENAN, GET ME OUT! PLEASE!"**_

"_**Hang on! I'm gonna try the knob!"**_

_**Keenan slowly turned the knob and to Gwen's relief, it opened. She fell forward and rolled around on the ground to get the spiders off of her.**_

"_**GET' EM OFF ME! GET 'EM OFF!"**_

_**One of their friends grabbed a towel and used it to help knock the spiders off of her body. When they were finished, Keenan held his best friend as she cried into his shoulder.**_

"_**It's okay, Gwen. You're safe now. They won't hurt you again."**_

"And she's been deathly afraid of them ever since." Keenan finished with a heavy sigh.

"See? It WAS my fault! It was my stupid fear of spiders that got RJ hurt in the first place! If I'd have just moved out of the way when I had that little girl, RJ would never have needed to jump in front of me...he wouldn't be..."

"Stop blaming yourself. RJ did what he did because he wanted to protect you. It's just how he is. He doesn't blame you for what happened and neither do we." Casey hated seeing her beat herself up like this.

"It's not your fault, Gwen, you have to believe that." Lily added.

Theo brought over a kleenex and handed it to Gwen.

"Here."

Thank you." She said as she wiped her eyes.

"Are you going to be okay now?" Keenan asked his long-time best friend.

"I have to be. RJ needs me right now. Oh, speaking of...how is he?"

"Oh, right! I was coming in to tell you that we have him hooked up in Room 1."

"Okay."

She slowly stood up, took a deep, cleansing breath and wiped her face with her hands, getting rid of any stray tears.

"I'm gonna go splash some water on my face then check in on RJ."

"Tell us the second you find out something, please." Fran asked.

"I will, I promise."

She made her way to the bathroom where she cleaned up her face and put on her white lab coat before going to RJ's room. She stopped at the door and looked at him through the window. She saw him hooked up to a heart monitor with his fingertip in the clothespin-like device that checks his pulse and blood pressure. He looked sweaty and noticed him shivering slightly, a clear sign of chills.

"_He looks so helpless."_ She thought to herself.

Seeing him like this nearly made her break down again, but she thought better of it.

"_I have to be strong...for him."_

She took another deep breath to calm herself and slowly opened the door.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." He answered back quietly.

"Miss me?"

"Did you even need to ask?" He retorted with a smile.

Gwen had to smile, mostly at how brave he was being. She walked over with her stethoscope around her neck and her medic cart.

"How are you feeling? And before you say anything, it's a standard doctor question." She commented with a wink.

"To be honest, I feel kinda cold. Which is weird because I'm sweating bullets here."

Gwen took a sterile cloth and wiped his face clean of the sweat that was beading on his skin. Along the way, she brushed a few stray hairs from his forehead. Once dry, she gently placed her hand on his forehead and cheek. RJ wasn't kidding when he said he felt cold. When he felt her soft, warm skin touch his face, he closed his eyes and lost himself in it; he leaned his head into her hand when it touched his left cheek Gwen was expecting his five-o'clock shadow to feel like rough sandpaper. It did, but she didn't mind one bit. Her thumb slowly stroked his cheek making him let out a soft moan. As badly as she wanted to continue, she had a check-up to finish. Putting the stethoscope to her ears, she proceeded to check RJ's heartbeat. She looked at her watch and counted the beats for a solid minute before scribbling the number on her clipboard.

"It's a little fast." She moved the stethoscope to his left pectoral. "I'm gonna listen to your lungs now, so I need you to breathe deeply."

RJ did as told and took several deep breaths as she moved the stethoscope from spot to spot over his back.

"Sounds good."

"Did it turn you on?" He asked her wiggling his eyebrows and grinning.

"RJ!?"

She chuckled at his question and giggled when he wiggled his eyebrows at her. But she had to be honest with herself; hearing him breathe like that did stir something inside of her. She had to regain focus so she took her thermometer and poked inside a cardboard box to place the protective sleeve on the sensor.

"Let me check your temperature." She said to her patient._ "Although, I think I'M the one with the fever, not you." _She thought. "Open your mouth, I'm gonna put this under your tongue."

Again, RJ did as asked and allowed her to check his temperature until the thermometer let out a beep signaling the readout was ready.

"88 degrees?" She said in shock.

"Is that bad?"

"Well, considering that the human average temp is 98.6..." She didn't finish her sentence. She didn't want to worry him anymore than he already was.

"I want to take a blood sample so I can run some tests...just to be on the safe side."

"Will it tell you what's wrong with me?"

"That's what I'm hoping." She answered as she tied off his right arm to make a vein protrude.

After finding a good one, she took a sterile needle and drew some blood for testing. She was very impressed that he didn't flinch at all. She covered the puncture with a sterile bandage and looked into RJ's eyes.

"I'll take care of you, RJ. I promise. You saved me at the theater tonight, I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything, Gwen. I'd do anything to protect you." He was in pain, but he still managed to smile sweetly at her.

"What am I going to do with you?" She asked returning his smile.

"_Anything you want, Gwen. Anything at all."_ He thought.

Gwen took RJ by the hand and held it in hers.

"I'll be right back. You hang on for me, okay?"

"I'll hang on...for you."

They held their gaze and their hands for what seemed like an eternity. Gwen didn't want to leave him alone and helpless and he didn't want her to go, but he knew she had a job to do so he reluctantly let go. Gwen kissed her right index finger and gently pressed it to his lips. She had always wondered about their texture and she got her answer when he gently kissed it.

"_Oh...they are soft."_ She thought with a breathless sigh.

She flashed a soft smile to him before leaving the room to run the tests on his blood. When the door closed behind her, RJ laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes; he was already missing her warm, tender touch and longed to repeat the experience.

"_So warm...so soft...I'd give anything to feel that again."_ He thought.

He was comfortable in his thoughts until they were interrupted with another fit of shivering and shaking, this round was more violent than the last. He bit back an agonized groan that threatened to escape his lips as he felt searing pain shoot throughout his body. Something was happening to him and he didn't know what. His right hand went straight to his chest as a sharp pain hit his heart. He sat up, wide eyed and was breathing heavily, sweat dripping from his body.

"_What's happening to me!?"_ He thought fearfully.

In the lab, Gwen was running a full battery of tests on the blood she drew from RJ's arm a while ago. Keenan had been assisting her for the past hour and watched as she looked at a sample through the microscope.

"So, how does it look?" He asked.

"Keenan, I've never seen anything like this. It's as if the DNA itself is changing." She answered in amazement...and a touch of concern.

"What!? Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack. Look for yourself."

Keenan looked through the microscope and saw what Gwen did. The cellular structure was indeed changing, literally in front of his eyes.

"Okay, this is so past weird, Webster's hasn't invented a word for it yet." Keenan quipped.

"Tell me about it. And get this. His temperature is 88 degrees and the scary thing is...it seemed to be dropping. Keenan, he felt so cold when I touched him. Like ice."

"Since he was attacked by a spider monster, do you think we need any antivenom?

"That's what we're trying to find out. The venom I detected in RJ's blood isn't like anything we have an antidote for."

She kept working furiously to find a cure until she stopped to let out a long drawn out yawn. Keenan could tell that working so hard and worrying about RJ was taking a toll on her.

"Why, don't you rest? I can take over from here."

"Okay. I'll give his friends an update before I go to my room." She mentioned looking at the wall clock. "Whoa, I had no idea we've been working for so long. Let me know the SECOND you find something out."

"You got it. And don't worry, RJ's gonna be fine." He said giving her a reassuring hug.

"What would I do without you?"

"Launch a one-woman remake of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?" He asked jokingly.

"You are SO lucky we're friends." She shot back as she glared at him playfully.

She left the lab and returned to the waiting room where the boys were pacing and the girls were sitting.

"Hey, guys." She spoke getting their attention.

The girls got up from the chairs and joined the guys as they walked to the young doctor.

"How's he doing?" Theo asked with worry.

"He's in stable condition right now. His pulse is a bit fast and his temperature has dropped but nothing that puts him in the danger zone. We're running some tests on some blood we drew from him and we're waiting on the results. But we're going to work around the clock to help RJ. I owe him that much. Now, I need to know if you guys want to stay here or go home and wait."

"No question, we want to stay here. He's our friend." Casey said, speaking for everyone.

Gwen smiled at their devotion to their fallen friend. It was touching to see that RJ has friends that cared so much about him.

"I was hoping you'd say that. RJ's really lucky to have friends like you. Kyla? Can you show them to the ER waiting room?"

A young female intern walked in and led the four teens to a spacious waiting room with leather reclining chairs and a t.v. It was made more like a lounge than a waiting room.

"I'll bring you some pillows and blankets. Trust me when I say those chairs are GREAT for sleeping."

"Thanks." Fran said with a smile.

"You need anything, just come get me; I'll be right downstairs."

"Thanks, we will." Lily replied. "Hey, Fran, don't you think you should call your parents and let them know where you are?"

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me." Fran reached for her purse and rummaged inside to find her flip cell phone. Opening it with one hand, she dialed her home number and waited for either her parents or the answering machine to pick up.

"Hi, mom, dad. I just called to let you know I'm at the vet hospital with Theo, Casey and Lily. We're gonna be here overnight so don't worry about me. I'll see you tomorrow; love you both. Bye."

She hung up her cell phone, placed it back in her overly cluttered purse and let out a heavy sigh.

"I hope RJ'll be okay." Fran wished aloud.

"We all do, Fran. We all do." Theo agreed before drifting off to sleep.

Gwen had already gone to her room to get some much needed rest. She laid down on her bed and her thoughts immediately turned to the young man with the five-o'clock shadow and those irresistible puppy-dog eyes. As her head hit the pillow, she whispered before nodding off...

"Please be okay, RJ."

Meanwhile at Dai Shi's lair...

Camille appeared before her master and bowed before giving the news of her latest discovery.

"Master, you're gonna be proud of me."

"Let ME be the judge of that, Camille." He retorted with a snarl.

"Well, it appears that Arachnikhan has a power even I didn't expect!

"I don't have time for guessing games, Camille. Spit it out!"

"Very well. Anyone who's bitten by his Venom Shot becomes his arachnoid slave who can create as much havoc as the original. And he has complete control over their minds...until they succumb to the poison's effects. Expendable minions; can't ask for a better power, can you?

"And there's no known antidote!" Arachnikhan stated proudly.

"For you sake, I hope you're right. Or I'll exterminate you myself!"

Camille bows and walks out pulling Arachnikhan behind her.

"Are you absolutely POSITIVE there's no antidote? My booty's on the line here, too!"

"I'm completely positive! Nobody has survived a bite from me yet."

"You better be, otherwise you'll be nothing but a stain under his boot. Speaking of surviving, I wonder who it was you poisoned?"

"Whoever it was, he should be almost complete with his transformation. Then the REAL fun can begin!"

Back at the Animal Hospital...

Keenan was working nonstop to analyze the venom in RJ's blood sample to see if it matched anything they had on file. He wanted to rest, but he made a promise to Gwen that he would find a suitable antidote to cure her date.

"_I can't let her down. I know she cares for RJ."_ He thought.

He looked up from his microscope and stumbled back from increasing exhaustion. The intern who was working with him noticed this and decided to take charge.

"I'll take it from here, Doctor. You need to get some rest." The male intern offered.

"Thanks. Page me if you find anything." He said yawning through his sentence.

The intern nodded as his superior left the med lab. He figured checking in on RJ one last time before turning in would be a good idea.

"_There might have been some changes that could provide a clue for us." _He thought.

He had NO idea how right he was, although the 'change' he had in mind wasn't the change that was taking place. He was a about to turn the corner on his way to the room when he heard what sounded like a pained roar followed by a loud crash and the sound of shattering glass. Keenan ran to RJ's room to see what was causing the ruckus. When he threw the door open, he saw the heart monitor sparking and wrecked beyond recognition, the gurney he was on mangled and the mattress and sheets torn to ribbons. All in all, everything was still in the room...except RJ.

"Oh, crapola! He's gone!"

He took out his cell and was about to page his friend who WAS sleeping upstairs, but those plans got sidetracked when she ran towards him minutes later, now wide awake.

"Keenan, WHAT THE FREAK happened down here? I could hear everything upstairs and you know I sleep through thunderstorms!" She asked, talking a mile a minute.

"Gwen, calm down. RJ's gone! I was coming down here to check on him and I heard this load roar! I think something broke in and kidnapped RJ...and whatever it was went Smackdown on his room!"

"WHAT!? Oh no! Let me in there!"

"No! You can't...you'll..."

"Keenan, I love you like a brother, which is why I'm gonna say this in the nicest possible way...MOVE IT OR LOSE IT!"

Keenan, knowing better than to cross his friend when she gets in this mindset, moved aside to let her assess the damage. She went to the room and slowly looked around to find any shred of RJ...or the 'thing' that abducted him. She turned her gaze towards the window and made a frightening discovery.

"Keenan?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think something broke IN...look."

She pointed to the floor and saw there was no broken window glass anywhere. If something HAD broken in, it would be all over the floor.

"Something broke OUT!" Gwen said in realization.

"We need to tell the others and fast."

"You're right. They're in the ER waiting room."

Both vets took the elevator to the ER waiting room and woke up the four teens who were fast asleep.

"GUYS! Wake up! We got trouble!" Gwen shouted as she woke up Casey and Theo.

"Wha-what's the matter? Is something wrong with RJ?" Fran asked yawning.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but...he's missing! We found his room trashed and the window broken out." Gwen explained.

"WHAT!? You mean something got in and grabbed RJ?" Theo asked worried.

"We're not sure. But with that monster running loose, we have to find him and fast!" Keenan added.

TBC...

END OF CHAPTER 4

My friend and I had done this with the mindset of it being a 2-part episode. R&R people. They help me make this better.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to EVERYONE for reviewing, it means a lot to me. As before, I don't own Power Rangers, Disney, Saban...etc. Now, without further ado, here is what was going to be the second episode. Enjoy and please R&R. I'm used to being a script writer so this is good practice for me. :)

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_**POWER RANGERS JUNGLE FURY: Beauty and the Beast...part 2**_

Everyone met up at JKP the following morning after the distressing news of their friend coming up missing from the Animal Hospital. The mood inside the normally bustling and cheerful pizzeria was stifled with an uncomfortable silence. Casey had not flipped the sign from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN' yet so the group could have some privacy. The six of them, all concerned and focused, were going over a plan to search for RJ.

"Okay, I'll check out the plaza. Theo, you take the mall and Lily can check downtown. Keenan, you can cover the beach and Fran, we need you to keep a lookout here in case RJ shows up." Casey handed out the orders like a true leader.

"What can I do?" Gwen asked worried for RJ.

When Casey looked at Gwen, she didn't look like the strong woman he had met just a few days prior. Her eyes betrayed her; they showed the uncertainty she tried to keep hidden inside. She looked so small and helpless, like a child lost in the big city. The red ranger's heart went out to her; he wanted to do everything in his power to bring her back to her former confident self.

"You can come with me. We can look for him together." Casey offered.

"Thanks, Casey. I can't just sit by and do nothing."

Everyone, except for Fran, rushed out of the pizzeria and split up going to different locations across the city searching for their friend, RJ. At the mall, shoppers were carrying bags and packages from one shop to another, teens were eating in the food courts and chatting about the latest fads through text messages on their cell phones and children were running away from their older siblings who were supposed to be watching them. In the hustle and bustle, the Blue JF Ranger was standing in front of the fountain after an exhaustive search from one end of the large shopping metropolis to the other.

"Everything looks fine here, Casey. No RJ, though." Theo reported.

In the center of town, a fatigued yellow ranger was sitting on a bench in front of an office building after her search. She had looked through every small shop, convenience store and office that was there; even a few hot dog stands. At each location, she showed a photo of RJ in the hopes that someone had seen him recently. To her dismay, not one lead turned up and she had to report the bad news to the red JF ranger with a heavy heart.

"All quiet downtown, and I can't find RJ anywhere. Nobody's seen him." Lily said checking in.

At the beach, the patrons were rubbing on sunscreen on their bodies, children were running down the shoreline flying kites and surfing and families were spread out on picnic blankets. Keenan opted to use the same 'show a picture of the missing person' tactic that Lily used only to yield the same results: none. After a disappointing search, he sat on a stray beach towel and did a bit of girl watching to take the sting out of his letdown.

"The beach is peaceful; no spiders or pizza chefs in sight, unfortunately." Keenan called in from his cell.

At JKP, Fran was holding down the fort as she waited for her boss to return. She was stacking dishes in the kitchen, filling condiment containers, preparing pizza ingredients and polishing off tables so much she was threatening to take the finish off the surface. This was Fran's way of working off her nervous energy and she had enough to keep Ocean Bluff lit for weeks. She hadn't known her boss that long but she did come up with a surefire idea. Knowing how much he loved pizza, especially pizza topped with bananas, she made up the dough, spread the pizza sauce and added the toppings including a heaping helping of freshly cut bananas. She had just put the humongous pie into the brick oven when her cell rang.

"Hello?"

"Fran, It's Casey. Please tell me you saw RJ. None of us have had any luck."

"He hasn't come back to JKP yet. And I'm baking his favorite pizza hoping the smell would draw him out." Fran said as she spoke to Casey on cell.

"Thanks, Fran. Gwen and I'll keep searching here. Don't give up."

"Ditto. Good luck." She said before hanging up.

He hung up his cell as Gwen walked over to him. He could tell by the look on her face she was getting more anxious.

"Any word?" She asked hopefully.

Casey just shook his slowly. It killed him to have to deliver the bad news.

"Casey, what if we don't find him? If anything happened to him, I'll never forgive myself." Gwen said as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"RJ's fine' we'll find him. He may seem laid back, but he can take care of himself." Casey reassured Gwen by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's spilt up; we can cover more ground faster."

The pep talk, though short and sweet, seemed to do the trick. Gwen gave her friend a small smile that seemed to cheer him up.

"Okay, I'll check out the greenhouses." Gwen offered.

"I'll check this way."

Both nodded and went their separate ways. Gwen made her way to the Ocean Bluff Greenhouse and opted to begin her search in the desert section. Unbeknownst to her, something sinister was lurking underneath the warm sand of the replicated ecosystem...something under the complete control of Arachnikhan. She slowly walked inside with a large water bottle handy in case she got thirsty. She trudged through sage bushes and cacti of every shape and form, all different and all dangerously prickly, until she found a clearing in between two tall saguaro. She noticed a large hole in the middle and thought that maybe RJ might have fallen in.

"What if he's hurt? I have to go check." She mused.

She quickened her pace as she made her way to the hole that stuck out like a sore thumb. What wasn't noticed were the invisible silk threads permeating from the inside of the depression in the sand. As she stepped on one of them, she was oblivious to the fact that she just announced her presence to the resident of said hole until she heard sand shifting.

"What was that?" She gasped.

She turned around slightly, disturbing the invisible threads even more.

"I better get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps."

She was about to take her first steps out of the desert when sticky threads of silk shot out of the hole and wrapped around her legs making her fall forward into the sand. She turned around to see what had tripped her. When she looked back, she let out a blood-curdling scream as the culprit revealed itself.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!!"

It was hideous and more grotesque looking than Arachnikhan if that was even possible. It slowly crept from beneath the sand and towards Gwen who was reaching behind her trying to pull herself away. She tried with all her might to kick her legs hoping it might push her away, but the silk wrapped around them went up to her knees, making that task virtually impossible. Its eight beady black eyes stared blankly as the mind behind them was being controlled by Arachnikhan back at Dai Shi's lair.

"Ah, a fine looking victim! Inject your venom into her and make her another mind slave!" The spider rinshi ordered.

"SOMEONE, HELP!"

Gwen frantically tried to move away from the encroaching attacker but it was no use. The sand was too loose for her to get a firm hold and she had no use of her legs thanks to the silk encasing them. The monster was now on top of her and slowly brought its face down, its fangs out, dripping with noxious venom and ready to bite. Not knowing what else to do, Gwen brought her arms up to protect her head.

"NO! PLEASE, DON'T!"

The creature was about to carry out its subliminal order when something else interrupted...memories...memories of the woman it was about to infect.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"_**Hi. I don't believe we've met. My name is RJ. And you are?"**_

"_**My name's Gwendolyn. But everyone calls me Gwen."**_

"_**That's a pretty name." RJ said with a goofy grin.**_

"_**Thank you. I guess I'll see you later. Bye."**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"_**Wait, you're eating alone? I thought you'd be here with your boyfriend." RJ wondered aloud.**_

"_**Oh, I don't have one." She commented.**_

"_**See, that's not right. Nobody should eat alone. Would you like some company?" He asked with hope.**_

"_**I'd love some." She answered with a sweet smile.**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The memories flooded into the monster's mind and it seemed to disrupt Arachnikhan's hold on it. The creature's arms flew to where its temples would be and it let out a pained roar that echoed throughout the desert. For whatever reason, it retreated back into its hole, leaving a visibly shaken Gwen confused.

"Weird. Well, weird or not, I'm outta here!"

She managed to find a sharp, flat rock and used it to cut the silk thread from her legs. Once she was free, she ran out of the greenhouse like a bat out of hell and called Casey on her cell phone to meet her there. When he arrived, he found her sitting on a bench with her hands running through her own hair and panting heavily.

"Gwen! What's wrong?"

Gwen didn't want to look up at Casey; she felt ashamed of herself for abandoning her search for RJ because of that...that thing!

"I was searching for RJ in the desert greenhouse when I was jumped by another spider monster, except this one was uglier than the one that attacked me and RJ at the movies!"

"ANOTHER!? You mean there's two running around here?" Casey asked.

Gwen nodded, still without looking up.

"Yeah; it had me pinned and was about to bite me...but, for some reason, it backed off. It looked like it was getting a headache." Gwen explained with a confused expression on her face.

"That IS weird!"

"And the worst part is, there was no sign of RJ anywhere. You?" She asked looking up for a brief moment.

"No, sorry."

"Great. Now I'm REALLY worried!" She replied with a heavy sigh.

Gwen turned her gaze from Casey to look around and saw her other friends running towards them. Apparently, Casey called them and told them to meet him here.

"Hey, there you are!" Theo called out.

"Any news on RJ?" Gwen asked hopefully.

Each person just shook their heads which didn't sit well with Gwen. Her heart literally sank. If she wasn't worried then, she was now. She still felt she was responsible for his disappearance. If they hadn't gone out...if they hadn't met in the first place, he'd be safe right now. Theo was the first to break the silence.

"Gwen, are you okay?

"No, Theo, I'm not. I'm worried about RJ. He's out there somewhere, poisoned, hurt, and with TWO spider monsters are running around..."

Everyone except Casey looked at the lady vet as if she'd grown antlers.

"TWO!?"

"Yeah, she told me about one that just attacked her in the desert greenhouse."

"Fantastic! Where are the Power Rangers when you really need them?" Keenan asked knowing only half the answer.

The others all looked at Keenan not sure how to answer his query. Lily was about to say something when Casey's cell rang in his pocket. Taking it out and looking at the display screen, he saw it was Fran.

"Fran, did RJ come back?

"No, I called to let you know I'm watching the news and there is this huge, ugly spider attacking the elementary school! And it looks like he has company! I just hope RJ isn't anywhere near this. Oh, but what if he is?"

"Thanks for the heads up, Fran."

Casey hung up the phone and wondered how to leave Gwen and Keenan without raising suspicion. Yes, they were friends, but he still couldn't risk letting their secret slip out so carelessly.

"So, what did Fran say?" Lily asked.

"She said the monster that attacked Gwen and RJ is at the elementary school. She's afraid that RJ might be there." Casey explained. _"Now how are we going to leave without tipping off Gwen and Keenan?" _He thought to himself.

At that moment, Gwen and Keenan's pagers started to go off which was no coincidence. Keenan had turned his back to secretly send Gwen a text from his phone. Gwen took out her black sidekick and looked at the text message on the display screen: _**Time 2 go 2 wrk, Panther**._ Gwen read the message and made a mental note to thank Keenan for giving them a good excuse to split.

"Hey, guys. We hate to do this to you but we're being paged back to the hospital. We'll meet up later to continue our search, okay?" Gwen explained.

"Sure, we'll see you later." Lily said thankful for the lucky break. Little did she know that luck had nothing to do with it.

The threesome of teens said their farewells and ran off in one direction leaving Gwen and Keenan to run to an alleyway hidden behind the greenhouse.

"Now they're going after kids!?" Gwen asked enraged. "You can't get any lower than that!"

"I hear you. But we have to stay focused. I know you're worried about RJ, but those kids need us right now." Keenan answered.

Gwen knew he was right. She had to deal with the task at hand, and right now, it was protecting those kids. It hurt her, but she had to put RJ on the back burner.

Meanwhile...

Arachnikhan and his slave were wreaking havoc as the children and teachers ran from the school in terror during what was supposed to be their recess time. One teacher was ushering the kids out of the fenced-in playground when the eight-legged slave grabbed her from behind. She screamed and begged for it to let her go but the only requests it was honoring were those of its master.

"Yes! She will make a nice addition. Bite her, my slave! Bite her and make my arachnoid army grow!"

His minion roared and grunted as his fangs crept closer to the woman's neck. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst when...

"LET HER GO!"

Casey and company arrived already morphed and ready to do battle.

"Ooh, it's the Kitty Kat Rangers! Whatever shall we do?" His taunts dripping with sarcasm.

"You can let her go for starters!" Theo ordered.

"As you can see, I don't have her! He does. Now you can try to save her, but I warn you he's already dangerously close to her neck. One false move and..."

Before he could finish the sentence, a blur of yellow and black passed in front of both monsters and reappeared next to her friends with the lady teacher safe and sound.

"And what?" Lily asked with a hint of a smirk in her voice.

"Oh, thank you so much!" praised the teacher.

"You're welcome, now run!" Lily ordered.

At the other end of the playground, two more rangers were herding the children to safety. Once every student and teacher had deserted the school grounds, they joined the rangers clad in primary colors in the fight.

"We figured you could use a hand." The black ranger quipped hiding her obvious disgust. _"As if one wasn't bad enough! Keep it together, girl" _She thought.

"Yeah, we could. Lily, you, Theo and the black ranger deal with his friend. You wanna join me in taking out Arachnikhan?" Casey asked the silver eagle ranger.

"Took you long enough to ask." The man in silver joked.

Both the red and silver rangers summoned their respective animal spirits to attack the large spider, red and silver auras flaring as if they were on fire. Before they could reach him, however, Arachnikhan used his subliminal hold on his minion to force him to block the attack. The second spider leapt in front of his master without a second thought...or even a first thought...and took the full brunt of the double team attack. His smoky form stood firm in front of Arachnikhan and the flabbergasted red and silver ranger.

"No way! We didn't even make a dent!" The silver ranger exclaimed.

"Of course, you didn't! All my arachnoid slaves are twice as strong as I am! His exoskeleton is stronger than diamond! All FIVE of you could attack at the same time and there wouldn't be a mark on him!!" Arachnikhan explained with an air of smugness.

"We'll see about that! CALL TO THE BEAST INSIDE! RELEASE THE PANTHER!"

"BRING OUT THE CHEETAH!"

"UNLEASH THE JAGUAR!"

"UNLEASH THE EAGLE!"

"FREE THE TIGER!"

The five rangers called all of their spirits simultaneously and using all of their strength, attacked the manipulated spider as he stood protectively...although not of his own free will...in front of Arachnikhan. In a blur of multicolored light, the four feline spirits and one avian entity banded together to plow into the mindless slave causing a massive explosion. The five rangers cheered thinking Arachnikhan was just boasting needlessly as he did before. But their hopes were dashed when the black ranger made a horrific discovery.

"I don't believe this! Look!"

Each ranger looked up to the same discovery. The smoke wafted away to reveal Arachnikhan's slave still standing strong and still without any visible evidence of him even being in a fight.

"How's that possible!? We hit him dead on!" Theo shouted.

"We need to rethink our strategy!" Lily noted.

"You're right! Rangers, retreat!" Casey gave the order and both groups scattered in different directions.

"That's right! Scurry away like the frightened little kitties you are! We're unstoppable!" Arachnikhan laughed evilly as his slave only roared in triumph.

Back at Dai Shi's lair...

Dai Shi himself walked around the slave of Arachnikhan and thoroughly examined him from top to bottom. As he suspected, there weren't any visible marks on him to suggest he was even in a battle. Camille smiled to herself thinking she had finally done something to make her master proud.

"See? I told you, master. Not a scratch and he even made those bothersome rangers flee in fear!" She remarked with a grin.

"I never thought I'd say this to you Camille, but I'm impressed. The amount of panic Arachnikhan and his slave are whipping up is staggering. The fear I felt from this one as he was changing and that schoolteacher he had in his grasp was palpable. But I do have one concern."

"What is it, Dai Shi?" Camille asked, her grin gone.

"He had one woman trapped and dead to rights in the desert greenhouse...yet he let her go. Why!?"

Camille jumped back as her lord and master barked out his query.

"I-I'm not sure, master. I don't really know how to answer that." She replied taking a few steps back.

"The horror that came from her was the most potent I've experienced in a long time. So sweet it was, the nectar of the gods pale in comparison. I have to have it. Arachnikhan, have your flunkie find her...NOW!" He roared.

"You heard Dai Shi...go find her!" Camille added her two cents in.

"As you wish, my lord! Go, my slave! Go and bring our master his prize!"

The enslaved spider roared loudly, half from his master's order and half from the memories that were haunting him relentlessly.

Back at the Animal Hospital...

The two vets were still licking their proverbial wounds from their previous battle with the two spiders. They were making their rounds in the big cat compound, checking vitals and overall health of the three large felines when Keenan noticed Gwen's near catatonic expression as she was attempting to use her stethoscope to hear the heartbeat of one of the cheetah cubs...through its hind end. Keenan walked to his friend and gently tapped her on the shoulder in an attempt to snap her out of her stupor.

"Um, Gwen...you might wanna watch what you're doing."

"Hmm? What do you..."

She was interrupted by the confused mew of the cheetah cub she was holding in her hands, its back end facing when its head should be and its head looking back at Gwen as if saying _"Um, I'm just a kid and I know this isn't right"_. She turned the cub to face her and rubbed its nose with hers affectionately as an apology.

"I'm sorry, little one. I guess I spaced out for a moment. Forgive me?"

The baby cheetah licked her nose as if to answer _"Yes, just don't make a habit of this."_

She grinned slightly and gently set the baby cheetah next to its concerned mother and sibling. As of late, her actions have been a concern of her coworkers...namely Keenan. Since RJ's disappearance, she hadn't been herself. The normally soft-spoken vet had nearly gone mute around the hospital, barely saying two words to anybody at one time. Her warm disposition, now cold and listless. The twinkle in her dark brown eyes was replaced with a dull and vacant look. Even the animals noticed the change in her...and weren't afraid to voice their concern.

"Still worried about RJ, sis?" He asked using his special nickname for her.

She wasn't his real sister, but they had such a strong friendship and so much in common that they often felt they were separated at birth. In fact, she would often call him her 'brother from another mother'.

"It shows, huh?"

"You could say that. I had to watch you try to listen to that baby cheetah's heartbeat through its butt to be sure." He said trying to lighten her mood, but failed. Her face was still sullen and it looked as if she hadn't eaten in a couple of days. "I know you care about RJ and..."

"No...I like him, bro. I mean **really** like him. What if I never get to tell him that? He's out there hurt and scared...possibly dying! And it's my fault! I promised him I'd help him and..."

"Gwen, calm down!"

He grabbed his best friend and held her as she cried into his shoulder. He hated seeing her so heartbroken and wished he could do something to make her smile again. But he knew there was only one thing that could help her now...bringing back RJ safe and sound.

"We'll get him back, Gwen. You have to believe that."

He gently lifted her head to look at him, as he feared the inner sparkle was gone from her eyes and was replaced by the reflected twinkle of the light bouncing off her tears.

"You need rest...and food. You haven't eaten in days. I have a veggie sub sandwich I brought for my lunch today; you take it."

"No, I-I can't..."

"No, buts. I'm telling you as a doctor; go upstairs and rest. I can handle things while you take the day off. You're no good to anyone unless you rest." Keenan ordered.

True, Gwen was the head vet, but as he stated, she was no good to anyone in the state she was in. Being the second in command, he took the lead role for the time being. He felt bad for pulling rank, but this was for her own good. She was about to protest again when she felt the sandpaper tongue of her pet panther, Kiva, who looked up at her with her pleading saffron eyes. She also wanted her master to rest. Seeing she was clearly outnumbered, she conceded.

"Fine, I'll go." She let out a heavy sigh and went to the refrigerator to grab Keenan's sandwich. "Let me know the second you find anything."

"You know I will. I want to see you smile again." Keenan added. _"And I know RJ does, too."_ He thought.

Gwen gave him a half-hearted smile before retreating upstairs to her room for some alone time...she had no idea she wouldn't be alone for long. Once she was out of sight, Keenan thought back to his forlorn friend and figured he had to resume the search for RJ. Asking the Vet who was under him in the chain of command to cover for him, he slipped out of the hospital and drove to Jungle Karma Pizza in his silver Taurus. He took out his cell and dialed the number to the pizzeria where Lily answered.

"Jungle Karma Pizza."

"Lily? It's Keenan. I'm on my way there. I need to talk to you guys about Gwen." He said seriously.

The others saw Lily's concerned expression and asked what was going on. She relayed Keenan's message and all at once, everyone felt a pang of dread.

"It's about Gwen, isn't it?" Theo asked.

Lily just nodded slowly as she hung up the phone. They huddled around the counter as Keenan walked through the door.

"Hey, guys." The young vet said sans enthusiasm.

"How's Gwen holding up?" Fran asked.

He didn't want to say what he had to say, but his friends deserved to know. They had grown to care about Gwen almost as much as he did.

"She's not. Guys, she's falling apart. She still blames herself and she hasn't been eating. I had to pull rank on her to make her take a day of so she could rest and eat. Can't say she was happy about it, but I had to."

"We know, Keenan. And I think she knows it, too." Fran consoled.

"She's a wreck. We have to keep looking for RJ...for her. I can't stand seeing her so unhappy." Keenan lamented.

"Neither can we. Fran, hold down the fort while we search again. He has to turn up sooner or later." Casey reminded. _"Hopefully sooner...for all our sakes." _He thought.

"Good luck...but where are you going to start searching?" Fran asked.

"How about the movies? That's where they were together last. Maybe RJ went there and hopefully left a clue behind." Lily suggested.

"Good call. Let's go." Theo chimed in.

Fran waved to her friends as they started round 2 of their search. Casey and Theo went in the red ranger's car while Lily rode shotgun in Keenan's. Both vehicles drove in the direction of their last date location...the Megaplex. Unfortunately, they were heading in the entirely wrong direction if they wanted to find their master and friend. Back at the Animal hospital, Gwen had finished eating half of Keenan's sandwich he ordered her to take and was laying on her back on her newly made bed. Her thoughts turned to, of course RJ. His goofy grin when he first introduced himself, his laid back attitude, the way he smelled on their date...

"_The way his butt looked in those jeans..."_ She thought inwardly.

That one image brought a small smile to her face as she rose from her bed to look out her window. Perched on a branch just shy of the sill were two lovebirds preening each other's feathers and doting on each other. They looked so sweet together sitting together and chirping happily. The two tiny birds reminded her of how she and RJ must have looked on their date. That alone made her let out a longing sigh.

"I'd give anything to have you back...anything." She whispered as she made a wish to the fates above.

While her back was turned, she was oblivious to the event happening behind her. An ominous shadow materialized; at first, a shapeless blob but then an octet of limbs became more pronounced. Once completely formed, the figure stealthily made its way to its intended victim. Gwen was utterly blind to the danger she was in until she heard the saucer the sandwich was sitting on was pushed off of the table by her bed and shattered, bringing her out of her pensive state. She whipped around to the source of the noise and froze in her tracks. Once again, she was face-to-face with the monster who almost made a meal of her at the greenhouse. Her fear was increased tenfold, added by the fact that she was trapped in her now cramped room no thanks to the large spider. She screamed in panic and threw everything she could get her hands on; books, chairs, even her doctor's bag hoping anything would stop the creature's approach.

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" She screamed.

She tried to run past the monster only to have her escape route blocked at every turn. Eventually, she was backed into a corner, the large spider steadily creeping closer. In Dai Shi's lair, Arachnikhan was beside himself with sadistic glee as he watched from the link he had with his slave.

"Yes! You have her now! Finish her!" He shouted through the link.

In her increasing panic, she slid down the wall and huddled herself into the corner, her hands over her head and her eyes shut tight. She was shaking like a leaf and on the verge of crying. In her desperation, she called out using the first name that came to mind.

"RJ, WHERE ARE YOU!?"

The creature was mere inches from Gwen when she called out before backing away. Not from the decibel level of the scream, but from the flood of images that invaded the monster's mind...

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_**RJ then reached around and placed his left arm around Gwen's shoulder. He looked down at her when she turned to look up at him.**_

"_**Comfortable?" He asked.**_

"_**I am now." She smiled as she leaned into him.**_

"_YES! She is totally into me!"__** He screamed in his mind.**_

_**As they settled into each other, the faint scent of her perfume was noticed by RJ. Even though it was light and barely noticeable over the buttered popcorn, it still intoxicated his senses. He took a deep breath to savor the perfume and she felt his chest rise.**_

"_**You smell nice."**_

_**When he whispered into her ear with his smooth and slightly deepened voice, it sent shivers through her that she felt to the core. When she took a breath to calm herself, the scent of his cologne flooded her senses the same way her perfume did to him. She became lost in it and whispered back.**_

"_**So do you."**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"_**I'll take care of you, RJ. I promise. You saved me at the theater tonight, I owe you."**_

"_**You don't owe me anything, Gwen. I'd do anything to protect you." He was in pain, but he still managed to smile sweetly at her.**_

"_**What am I going to do with you?" She asked returning his smile.**_

"_Anything you want, Gwen. Anything at all."__** He thought.**_

_**Gwen took RJ by the hand and held it in hers.**_

"_**I'll be right back. You hang on for me, okay?"**_

"_**I'll hang on...for you."**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Just as last time, the creature brought its hands to his head as another massive headache threatened to rip his mind in twain, this one more painful than before judging by his agonizing roars and the fact that it was rolling on the floor in a vain attempt to cease the pain. Gwen looked up from her huddled position to watch the display and decided to take advantage of the opportunity presented to her.

"I'm gettin' while the gettin's good!" She said to herself.

She quickly stood up and stepped over the monster writhing in pain on her floor. She had no sympathy for it and had no qualms about leaving it where it was...or she didn't until she hears a voice.

_"Gwen...help...me..."_ It groaned in a warped voice.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard this hideous monster speak her name. She slowly turned to face it despite being scared witless and saw that it was kneeling with one of its hairy arms reaching out to her in a desperate plea.

"How...h-how do you know my name?"

Arachnikhan was watching the drama unfold and was furious. How could his hold be slipping? What was causing it?

"Impossible! My hold on him is unraveling! Return, my slave! We need to regroup!"

The creature struggled to resist the hold his master had on him and again pleaded with the lady vet standing in disbelief in front of him.

_"Gwen...please...help me!"_

Slowly, her fear melted and turned to compassion. Before her was no longer a grotesque minion, but an animal, a soul in need of her help. She slowly made her way to the creature who held its arm out to her. She was one inch away from touching it when it started to vanish. Its groans and roars became more anguished as it called out to Gwen one last time...

_"HELP...ME!"_

Right in front of her eyes, the creature teleported back to its master unwillingly, but not before she managed to grab what looked like a strap of leather and a swatch of cloth from its person...er...spider. She examined the torn items and her dark eyes widened in shock as a pang of realization came to her face.

"No...no it couldn't be." She whispered.

End of CHAPTER 5!

What did Gwen discover? Was it a clue to RJ's whereabouts? Review and I MIGHT post the next chapter. ;) May the power protect you!


	6. Chapter 6

After a couple of days to get this perfect, here is the final chapter...final...I hate that word.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Gwen sat on her bed stunned. Stunned...there was no other word to describe how she felt at that moment. Her mind was processing, trying to wrap itself around what had transpired just a few minutes ago. She kept shaking her head in denial as the disturbing thought kept haunting her. She tightly grasped the swatch of material that turned out to be some slightly faded blue denim and the strap of leather that was a black belt in her right hand as she replayed everything in her head:

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"_**Gwen...help...me..." It groaned in a warped voice.**_

_**She stopped in her tracks when she heard this hideous monster speak her name. She slowly turned to face it despite being scared witless and saw that it was kneeling with one of its hairy arms reaching out to her in a desperate plea.**_

"_**How...h-how do you know my name?"**_

_**Arachnikhan was watching the drama unfold and was furious. How could his hold be slipping? What was causing it?**_

"_**Impossible! My hold on him is unraveling! Return, my slave! We need to regroup!"**_

_**The creature struggled to resist the hold his master had on him and again pleaded with the lady vet standing in disbelief in front of him.**_

"_**Gwen...please...help me!"**_

_**Slowly, her fear melted and turned to compassion. Before her was no longer a grotesque minion, but an animal, a soul in need of her help. She slowly made her way to the creature who held its arm out to her. She was one inch away from touching it when it started to vanish. Its groans and roars became more anguished as it called out to Gwen one last time...**_

"_**HELP...ME!"**_

_**Right in front of her eyes, the creature teleported back to its master unwillingly, but not before she managed to grab what looked like a strap of leather and a swatch of cloth from its person...er...spider. She examined the torn items and her dark eyes widened in shock as a pang of realization came to her face.**_

"_**No...no it couldn't be." She whispered.**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"I-I still can't believe it. That...that was...is...no, there's no way it could be true." She just couldn't bring herself to the obvious conclusion despite having definitive proof in her hands; proof being a piece of the jeans and the belt that RJ wore on the night of their date.

Still trying to calm down from the initial shock, she closed her eyes to clear her head as she struggled to find some feasible explanation as to why that monster had those particular items. She took a slow, deep breath and a familiar aroma that was lingering in the room struck her olfactory senses. The scent lulled her back to when she first experienced that smell, a heavenly mix of light musk and exotic spices that reminded her of...pizza. Her eyes snapped open and the twinkle that was missing from her eyes for so long was starting to return.

"Oh, my God! It's true! It is..." She stood up so quickly, she nearly jumped off of her bed. Still clad in her white lab coat, blue jeans and black t-shirt, she grabbed her purse and left the hospital after putting one of the subordinate vets in command. She got into her black Toyota Camry and drove to Jungle Karma Pizza, all the while hoping she didnt't get pulled over for speeding.

"I have to tell the guys! I just hope I'm in time!" She said to herself as she just barely skirted under the speed limit. _"Please, just hang on a little longer."_ She though.

She arrived at the familiar pizzeria and skidded her car into an empty parking space with a skill that rivaled Jason Statham in the first **Transporter** movie. She literally flew out of her car, ran inside and caught sight of Fran buzzing through, cleaning every nook and cranny of the pizzeria in her effort to release the anxious energy that consumed her body.

"Fran? Fran, where is everyone!? I have to talk to them!" Gwen called out.

Fran was so preoccupied with her housekeeping tirade, she didn't even notice Gwen was standing two feet in front of her. In fact, she used her feather duster to sweep some stray hairs off of her shoulder; she probably mistook her for a coatrack. Gwen couldn't really blame her, though; she did the same thing whenever she was nervous about something. This did give her an idea. She figured Fran was the precise type; one who liked seeing everything in perfect order. So she did something she knew would snap her out of her cleaning jag.

"Fran, one mega jumbo Thrilla Gorilla with extra kiwi!" She shouted out.

"Coming right..." She was about to run into the kitchen when she noticed something wrong with that order. "Wait a minute...Thrilla Gorilla pizzas don't use kiwi!"

She turned around to see Gwen waving to her, a feather stuck in her hair from when Fran dusted her. Fran gave a crooked grin to the lady vet; she knew she must have looked pretty odd wiping tables with one hand while dusting with the other. If she had a mop and a scrub brush tied to her feet, she would have looked like a live-action cartoon.

"Gwen, how long have you been standing there?" Fran asked slowing her velocity.

"Long enough to know if I ever need a housekeeper, I'm coming to you." She grinned.

Both girls chuckled as Gwen sat at the counter and Fran went into the back. She remembered what Keenan said earlier about Gwen not eating for days and brought out a couple of slices of pepperoni pizza on two plates. Fran immediately dug into her slice; cleaning an entire pizzeria by yourself takes a lot of energy. She looked over to Gwen and saw that she hadn't taken a bite of her pizza. Concerned, the spectacled female asked her friend what was on her mind.

"Gwen, I know you're worried about RJ, but you need to eat. Come on, have a bite." She pleaded.

Gwen looked at the pizza that was still piping hot on her plate, then to her friend who was giving her the 'puppy dog' eyes. They reminded her so much of the dinner she and RJ spent there that Gwen slowly shook her head, but not because of any memories that popped up.

"_Good gravy! You and RJ aren't related, are you?"_ She thought in amusement.

Gwen let out a soft chuckle and it made Fran smile. It was the first sign of life that Gwen had shown since the night of their date.

"Thanks for caring, Fran. And you're right; I am worried about RJ, but that's not why I haven't eaten the pizza yet."

"Well, then, why?"

Gwen's mouth curved in a _'you don't wanna know'_ manner. This only happened when she was positive she was going to say something they didn't want to hear and considering where she was, she was certain she was about to say something blasphemous.

Well...you see, Fran...I hate pepperoni."

Fran's eyes widened and she looked as if she was going to do her impression of the Fred G. Sanford 'I'm coming. Elizabeth' heart attack. She staggered back and was close to hyperventilating. There wasn't a brown paper bag handy so she grabbed an empty flour bag and started breathing into that. She couldn't believe Gwen would say something like that...and in a place where pepperoni was almost sacred.

"Come again? I wasn't sure I heard what I thought I heard." She asked in between gasps.

"I said...I hate pepperoni." She cringed at Fran's horrified expression.

"No...the words 'hate' and 'pepperoni' should **never** be used in the same sentence. That's sacrilege!" She removed the paper bag from her face and Gwen tried her hardest to stifle the giggles bubbling up within her. "How can you hate pepperoni? It's un-American! What's the point of pizza if there's no pepperoni on it?" Fran asked, she was desperate to hear her answer.

"The...the point is...I can eat it."

Gwen couldn't stand it anymore. She let out a loud, hearty laugh that echoed throughout the empty pizzeria. She was laughing so hard, she put her head down on the counter and was pounding the counter while trying her darndest not to slide off the leather stool she was sitting on. Fran, who was still in shock after hearing her anti-pepperoni statement, looked at the vet like she'd lost her ever-loving mind.

"What is so funny!?"

All Gwen could do was wave. She was laughing so much she couldn't even talk. To answer Fran, she reached into her purse and pulled out a black compact that housed a mirror in it. She opened it up and held it up in front of the young JKP employee. As she looked into the mirror, she finally saw what Gwen was laughing about...the area that consisted of Fran's nose, cheeks, mouth just below her lips was dusted with the flour the bag once held. After examining herself in the mirror for what seemed like an eternity, she, too, lost it. Both girls were laughing their fool heads off.

"Thanks, Fran. I needed that." She said, her laughter dying down.

Fran's laughter was also slowing as she found a damp towel to clean her face and glasses. She was relieved to see her friend slowly returning to the happy soul she had met.

"Hey, can I check out the kitchen?" Gwen asked.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_**She remembered the stories Fran had told her about RJ and his culinary 'experiments'; most recently his attempt to make a seafood medley pizza with real lobster. He was going to call it 'Poseidon's Paradise'. She remembered when RJ walked in with a bag full of ingredients for his newest creation including two water-filled plastic bags containing his main ingredient...live lobsters. After making up the pizza dough, cheese and sauce for this marine delicacy, he opened the plastic bags holding the living sea fossils and placed one on top of each pie. He shoved both pizzas into the preheated brick over and closed the door feeling very proud himself. He loved experimenting with new ideas and he had a good feeling about this one. And it would have turned out pretty good...if RJ had boiled the lobster beforehand instead of putting them on top of the pizza dough live and with the rubber bands still on their claws. He figured that if boiling would kill them, baking would achieve the same results...wrong! When he opened the oven, the lobsters were red alright, red with anger. The rubber had melted from their claws and the crustaceans crawled out of the oven, poised and ready to exact their revenge on the naive pizza chef. Fran, who was taking orders in the dining area, thought Lily had turned on flamenco music to add some atmosphere when she heard the sound of claws clacking and RJ's frantic feet tapping on the floor trying to get away from their pinchers. She was proven wrong when she saw RJ run out of the pizzeria screaming with one lobster hanging from the back of his pants, it's claw firmly viced shut pinching his left butt cheek.**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"_Never a dull moment with RJ." _Fran thought. She started giggling again at the memory and waved Gwen on. "Hmm, oh, sure. Help yourself." Fran allowed.

Gwen thanked her friend and went to the back leaving Fran to watch tv.

Meanwhile, at the Ocean Bluff Megaplex...

The foursome of rangers were coming through every square inch of the lobby and each of the separate theaters searching for any sign of their friend. Lily showed the ushers and manager of the establishment RJ's picture in hopes of turning up a new lead.

"Have you seen this man?" Lily asked the manager.

The manager held the picture and scanned it closely taking note of every detail.

"Yes, he was in here the other night with a lady friend of his. They bought tickets for The Forbidden Kingdom." he stated. "I'm afraid I haven't seen him since then, young lady."

"Thank you." She said with a sigh.

She didn't want to give up the search; she couldn't. None of them could. Theo noticed the look of despair that threatened to mar Lily's perpetually cheerful face and went to console her.

"We're not giving up! He has to be around somewhere. For all we know, he's probably looking for us right now."

Keenan was just coming out of one of the theaters when he overhears his friends talking and consoling Lily.

"He's right." Casey interjected. "If we gave up on our search for RJ, the everything Master Mao taught us over the years would be for nothing."

Keenan's eyes widened as he eavesdropped on their conversation. Just how did these three teens know about one of the most accomplished masters of the Pai Zhuq? The very master who had raised him and Gwen from when they were young?

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_**Ocean Bluff Orphanage-despite being a place where children who lost or were abandoned by their parents resided, it was a cheerful, happy place. The kids there all got along well with each other and the social workers and designated caregivers did their part in finding loving homes for their temporary charges. For the last four of their seven years, Keenan and Gwen lived here; both brought here through different circumstances. Gwen's father passed away from a stroke just after her third birthday and when her mother was killed in a car crash just months later, she was brought to the orphanage because she had no other living family. Keenan was physically abused by his father and was taken away into protective custody after a neighbor had called the police. She had seen his father whipping the child within an inch of his life and rushed over to fight him off. Since then, the two had been inseparable; they stuck to each other for so long, people actually thought they were brother and sister. Because of his traumatic experiences, Keenan had grown to despise bullies this was evident anytime someone tried to pick on Gwen. Even thought she was a couple of months older, Gwen always thought of Keenan as the 'big brother' she never had.**_

_**For the first four years of their stay, their love for animals was clear as they were often chosen to take care of the resident pets. It was a job they welcomed because animals provided unconditional love, something the orphans needed during their crisis.**_

_**It was their monthly Adoption party and all of the children were dressed in clothes that would usually be reserved for Easter. Outside, in the immense back yard, the area was decorated like a birthday party, which was appropriate because for some lucky children, it would be a new beginning to their young lives. Kids played as prospective parents looked around hoping that one special child will catch their eye...and capture their hearts. At one of the tables, Gwen and Keenan were drinking small cups of punch. Gwen was holding a tiny, black bob-tailed kitten she had found hiding in the bushes the day before. Each month, they stood together hoping they would be adopted by a pair of loving parents. They had grown so close, they made a pact...they either both went together to one family, or neither of them went. Sadly, at the end of every adoption day, the latter usually happened and both stayed at the orphanage for another month. This month, they were both hoping things would change for the better.**_

"_**You think we'll get adopted this month, Keenan?" A young Gwen asked. She wore a bright purple dress with poofy sleeves and ruffles on the hem. Her hair was made up in tiny pigtails and she had on black patent leather mary-jane shoes.**_

"_**I know we will, Gwenny. I can feel it. This is our month." He had on a nice little navy suit with silver clip on his tie. Upon looking at him, he could easily be confused for the world's shortest business executive.**_

"_**You say that every month and every month we get passed over. We're never gonna find anyone to take both of us. And I meant what I said when we made our pact...we both go together or neither one goes. I'm not leaving here without you." She exclaimed petting the mewing kitten.**_

"_**I know; I'm not going with anyone unless you can go with me. You're my sister, blood or no blood." Keenan smiled, showing the endearing gap in his front teeth.**_

"_**And you're my big brother."**_

_**Gwen set the little kitten down so they could do their special handshake. When they finished, they were brought out of their contentment by the sound of a loud meowing sound. A group of three boys, who bullied the other kids of the orphanage, had grabbed Gwen's kitten and were throwing her around in an inhumane game of keep-away. Gwen watched with horror and ran to the rescue. She stood in the middle of the sadistic circle and was pleading with the boys to give her kitten back.**_

"_**No! Let her go! She never did anything to you!" She shouted as she reached for the kitten every time she sailed through the air.**_

_**The three boys laughed evilly as the ignored her pleas. They were the ones who often picked on her because she was so quiet and gave her the moniker of 'Mouse Girl'.**_

"_**Awww, is the widdle Mouse Girl gonna cwy?" The tallest boy taunted as he launched the helpless kitten to his friends.**_

_**Keenan seethed with anger as he watched his surrogate sister being harassed and couldn't take it anymore. He rushed into the fray and stood in front of Gwen as a big brother would.**_

"_**Give Gwen back her kitten! Now!" He ordered.**_

"_**Why don't you make us, you little twerp?"**_

_**Keenan charged the boy like a linebacker only to be pushed back onto his backside by the taller bully. Gwen ran to his side and knelt beside her friend. He had skinned the palm of his hand when he landed and seeing him hurt was the straw that broke the camel's back. She looked up from her position at the bullies and had a look in her eyes that would make Medusa proud. She took a slow, deep breath and shouted...**_

"_**Leave him ALONE!!"**_

_**What came out of her mouth wasn't the elevated version of her normally timid voice, but a thunderous roar that bellowed from the depths of her body. It shocked her so much, she slapped her hand over her mouth in disbelief and it scared the three bullies so badly, the tallest one threw the frightened kitten ten feet into the air.**_

"_**No! My kitten!"**_

"_**I'll get her!"**_

_**Keenan quickly rose to his feet and leaped into the air as if the wind itself carried him up. He caught the kitten in mid free fall and landed perfectly on the ground. Running back to his friend, he handed her a shaking, but otherwise safe kitten. All the parents applauded Keenan, not just because of his Jordanic leap to save the kitten, but because of the lengths he went to help someone. One soul in particular watched both children with heightened interest. As one of the social workers reprimanded the three boys, the one who was watching Gwen and Keenan walked towards them. He knelt down to eye level with them and gave a warm smile.**_

"_**Hello."**_

"_**Hi." The two children greeted.**_

"_**What are your names?" He asked.**_

"_**I'm Keenan and this is my sister, Gwen." He said hoping that calling her his sister would give them a better chance of being adopted together.**_

_**The man smiled with his eyes and asked the young boy.**_

"_**She's not really your sister, is she?" He asked with a playful smirk.**_

_**Keenan wanted to say yes, but his 'father' did manage to instill some moral values into the young boy. He looked down sadly knowing once he told the truth that would end their chances of going to a nice home.**_

"_**No. She's not. She's my best friend but I love her like a sister and we want to be adopted together because we don't want to be separated and..."**_

_**He was talking a million words a minute and tears started to come to his eyes. Gwen saw this and decided to step in.**_

"_**We made a pact. Either we both get adopted together or neither of us would. You see, he's the closest thing to family I have and I don't want to lose him."**_

_**And that was the truth. The man was already impressed by the actions of the two kids but when he saw the devotion these children had for each other, it warmed his heart. He called for the head social worker and stood up. He whispered something into her ear that made her smile. The kids couldn't hear what the adults were talking about and grew more anxious by the minute when the man turned to face them.**_

"_**How would you two like to come with me?" He asked with a smile.**_

_**Both children looked up at him with wide eyes.**_

"_**You mean you want to take both of us?" Keenan asked. "For real?"**_

"_**For real." He chuckled. "I just talked to your social worker and she agreed. You're both coming with me."**_

_**Both children jumped up happily and hugged their new adoptive father when Gwen realized something.**_

"_**Wait. You know our names, but you haven't told us yours yet."**_

_**The man chuckled at Gwen's observation and decided to oblige her.**_

"_**My name is Master Mao."**_

"_**Master? Like a real live Kung Fu master?" Keenan asked in wide-eyed amazement.**_

_**The man laughed at the young one's enthusiasm.**_

"_**Yes, as a matter of fact, I am a Kung Fu master. If you want, I can teach the two of you everything I know. My home is a martial arts academy." He whispered the last part so only the children could hear.**_

"_**Cool!" Both children said in a stunned whisper.**_

"_**So, I take that as a yes?"**_

"_**Yes!"**_

_**Both kids nodded their heads so hard and fast the man feared they would pop off. He laughed and bent down to say something to them both.**_

"_**Now, go and pack your things. As soon as I sign the papers, we'll go home."**_

_**Both kids cheered and ran towards the house when Keenan stopped and turned to face Master Mao.**_

"_**Wait. What do we call you once we get there?"**_

"_**How about...Dad?"**_

_**All Keenan and Gwen did was smile before running to the house to gather their things. After waiting for so long...they were finally going...home.**_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Keenan was brought out of his trip down memory lane when he heard Casey's cell ringing and him talking into it.

"Hello?"

Back at JKP...

Fran was waiting on Gwen to return when she saw a horde of people run past the pizzeria in mass hysteria. She went to the door to stop one woman to ask her what was going on.

"HUGE spiders at the plaza! They're destroying everything!" She screamed before joining the other fear-stricken runners.

Fran grabbed her cell and called the first number that came to mind.

"Casey, that spider's back and he's in the plaza! And he has his 8-legged buddy with him." Fran reported.

Gwen was coming back into the dining area and heard what Fran said over her cell phone. She knew about the spider...and also knew if she didn't get to the plaza soon, the Power Rangers would destroy him and she wasn't about to let that happen.

"Hey, Fran? I have to go. I just got paged. I'll take a rain check on the pizza, okay?" Gwen asked running out of the pizzeria.

"Okay! See you later!" She shouted after her friend.

Gwen jumped into her black Camry and sped towards the plaza, hoping in her heart she wasn't too late to stop the rangers.

"_Please, please let me get there in time!"_ She pleaded to the fates above.

Back at the Megaplex...

"Okay, thanks, Fran." He hung up the phone as Keenan walked back in. The silver ranger had heard everything but they didn't know that. They were trying to come up with a viable excuse to ditch their friend and ranger up without raising too much suspicion. "Hey, Keenan, we just got a hot tip and we're wondering..."

"You want me to keep looking here just in case he returns?" Keenan interrupted.

"Could you?" Lily asked, batting her eyelashes.

Keenan chuckled. He never could resist a pretty girl; it was his one weakness.

"Sure."

"Thanks, man!" Theo called out as the threesome ran from theater.

Truth be told, he was thankful for this lucky break. He ran into the alley behind the Megaplex and looked around to make sure he wasn't followed or watched.

"_Time to work, Eagle."_ He thought to himself.

At the plaza, Casey and the others were already transformed and ready to fight their foes. Just as Fran said, both spiders were raising hell and Camille was watching their handiwork with an airy smirk on her face.

"Arachnikhan! Your time's up!" Casey shouted.

"I think you have that backwards, little rangers! Arachnikhan and his slave are unstoppable!

"We'll see about that!" Theo retorted.

"Hmm, you know, I think I'll let my slave have some fun. He's already proven he can take you on without breaking a sweat." Arachnikhan cackled as his slave roared.

"It'll take more than him to defeat us!" Lily added.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, pretty kitty. That's why I took the precaution of infusing him with more power! You're finished! Dai Shi will claim his greatest victory!"

"Not likely! Let's go, guys!" Casey ordered. "**Jungle Chucks!**"

"**Jungle Tonfa!**"

"**Jungle Bo!**"

With weapons in hand, all three rushed the mind slave at the same time, fighting with all their might. But the minion kept pace with them blow for blow and with the added power, it soon beat back all three rangers with one savage kick.

"Man, it is stronger! Our weapons aren't gonna be enough!" Lily observed.

"You're right. We need the Claw Cannon!" Theo suggested.

"Good call!" Casey stated. (A/N: If anyone knows how they call for the Claw Cannon, tell me please.)

All three were in position with the large cannon poised and ready to fire.

"Powered by the animal spirits-FIRE!"

They fired the cannon and let loose a humongous fireball that hits the spider slave square on. The rangers were cheering thinking they had finally defeated the monster, but when the smoke cleared, the monster let out a menacing roar.

"No way! That's impossible! Nobody could survive that!" Theo shouted in utter disbelief.

"You fools! I told you he was unstoppable! Not even the three of you can harm it!" Arachnikhan boasted.

The three rangers stood there not knowing what else they could possibly do to vanquish this foe. Or they didn't until a voice rang out from above them.

"Okay, how about **four**!?"

"Oh, no! We've got company!" Camille glowered.

From the sky, the Silver Ranger swooped down to join his comrades.

"Looks like you guys need a hand." The Silver Ranger observed.

"Just in time. I think the power of four rangers combined with the Claw Cannon will be enough to take him down." Theo said to the Silver Eagle.

"Sounds good to me; let's do this!" The Silver Ranger agreed.

They call for the Claw Cannon for take 2 of their attempt to destroy the spider slave. Theo and Lily took their places kneeling near the front of the cannon as Keenan joined Casey holding the large barrel from the back. The cannon charged and was set to fire when...

"STOOOOOOOOOP!!"

Gwen ran towards the rangers, her white lab coat flapping in the wind behind her, screaming at the top of her lungs and waving her hands to get their attention. She ran in front of the Claw Cannon and stood with her back facing the rangers and her arms stretched out at her sides. She was out of breath but was thankful they haven't shot yet.

"Don't shoot! Please!" She pleased breathlessly.

All four rangers held their fire and looked at Gwen like she was crazy. Why in the world was she trying to SAVE this monster when it attacked her? Keenan, who himself had a hard time figuring out her actions half the time, had to ask her what her deal was.

"What do you think you're doing? Get out of the way before you get killed!" He ordered.

But Gwen refused to take one step. She had to do whatever it took to keep them from shooting.

"No, I can't let you shoot! I WON'T!"

The rangers were confused and slowly lowered the cannon; they couldn't fire with Gwen standing in the way.

"Miss, you have to! They're evil!" Lily begged.

"Not this one...It's RJ!" Gwen shouted.

The four rangers nearly dropped the cannon when they heard the news.

"WHAT!? Are you sure?" Casey asked.

"It's true! That's RJ!" Gwen repeated. "He came to the Animal Hospital and cornered me in my room. He almost had me when he started groaning in pain and calling my name, begging me to help him. I reached out to him but he vanished in front of me...but not before I grabbed a leather strap and some ripped denim off of him. I looked at it closely and saw that it was the belt and part of his jeans he wore on our date the night he disappeared. So, you can't shoot him! Please!"

The rangers were shocked and put the cannon on the ground. They still couldn't believe that this spider was in actuality, their missing friend, RJ. As they rose to their feet, the monster held its head as it fell to the ground roaring and writhing in such intense pain, Gwen could feel it. The monster lifted its head, its eight eyes focused on Gwen and for a millisecond, they flashed green...RJ'S eye color. He was fighting the hold Arachnikhan still possessed over his mind, but he was also fighting something else. He let out another agonizing groan of pain as he mustered the strength to make what could be his final plea.

"GWEN...HELP...ME! PLEASE!!"

To everyone's shock, RJ's normal voice rang out from the monster's body. Camille watched the scene and thought it was funny. Seeing such despair made her feel giddy.

"Oh, dear. It seems as if the venom has takes its toll on him. Poor guy; he doesn't have much time left...judging by the way he looks...he could drop dead right now." She chuckled sinisterly.

"RJ!!"

Gwen shouted as she ran to him and knelt by his side. All at once, she forgot about her fear of spiders and held RJ's arachnoid head in her lap. She tenderly stroked his face, now convinced that the man she cared about was still in there.

"You're too late, little girl! He's had my venom in him too long! And there is no antidote! He's finished!"

Gwen glared at Arachnikhan and looked down at RJ. He was shaking and she could tell by his groans that he was crying.

"Can't...hang...on!" RJ groaned in his warped voice.

His body convulsed violently in her lap as he struggled with every fiber of his being to regain control. He could no longer hold in his anguished cries. Gwen's heart broke for him as she tried to figure out some way to help him.

"Don't you listen to him! You can fight this! You have to!"

Gwen held him closer as her brown eyes started to tear up. He was slipping away and there was nothing she could do to save him.

"RJ, please, don't leave me! I can't lose you! Fight...for me!"

She shouted to the man she held in her lap...she could feel his life force draining. He lifted his head and the green color flashed one more time in all eight eyes...

"Gwe-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"

RJ let out an ear-splitting shriek as he arched his back and shook violently. When the seizure ended, his body fell limp. She looked into his eyes and saw nothing, no sign of life.

"RJ...no...no, you can't be gone! RJ!!"

She shook his body in a useless attempt to revive him. The rangers stood their, speechless...their boss, their master...their friend was...gone.

"RJ..." He whispered.

"No! He can't be dead!" Lily wept. Casey held her close to console her, but it was futile. They had lost a good friend and no amount of comfort could make it better..

"RJ...master." Theo said with bowed head.

Keenan just looked at his best friend as she held RJ's lifeless body. He knew she wanted to tell him how she really felt...but will never get that chance. His heart broke into a million pieces, but his pain was nothing compared to Gwen's grief. She was gently stroking his spider form's face as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"RJ...I promised I'd help you. You needed me...and I failed. I'm so sorry!"

She laid her forehead onto his and just let the floodgates open. She cried openly, not caring who saw her. She let her crystalline tears flow freely from her brown eyes and they dripped onto RJ's motionless face. As the three teen rangers mourned the loss of their trusted friend, Keenan looked up to see something happening.

"Guys...look!" Keenan alerted.

All the rangers looked up to see that RJ's spider body was glowing. Gwen's eyes were closed shut while she cried and never noticed what was happening. As the glow intensified, the extra arms fell off one by one and the exoskeleton shattered into a million pieces revealing RJ in his true form, his body covered in what was left of his jeans and shirt. He took his first deep breath since being resurrected and stirred in Gwen's lap, stretching his body and groaning as if waking up from sleeping wrong. He slowly opened his green eyes and looked up to see the heavenly, but sad face of Gwen crying. He reached his hand up to gently touch her cheek and parted his lips to speak for the first time since his change.

"Gwen?" He whispered.

Gwen slowly opened her eyes as she heard the familiar voice. She looked down and was shocked to see those puppy dog eyes looking up at her.

"RJ?" Gwen asked hopefully, wiping her eyes as she did.

"Why are you crying? You're acting like I died or something." He asked, his eyes not leaving her gaze.

Gwen smiled through her tears and hugged RJ tightly. RJ gladly returned the hug, not wanting to be let out of it anytime soon. He took a deep breath, relishing the scent of fresh peaches that lingered in her hair from her morning shampoo. Gwen was amazed that after all that battling, he still smelled of the cologne he wore on their first official, and unfortunately ruined date. The other rangers were cheering loudly while Arachnikhan and Camille stood there exasperated.

"I thought you said your venom had no antidote!" Camille accused.

"It doesn't! My venom is incurable! How could this little upstart neutralize it!?" He shouted in query.

The couple slowly loosened the hug and RJ laid his head comfortable in Gwen's lap. She never thought she'd be looking into those gorgeous eyes again and wanted to make the moment last.

"It is you, isn't it?" She asked again.

RJ just smiled and gently brushed her hair from her eyes. He never thought he's see her lovely face again and wanted to savor this moment.

"Yeah, it's me and right now you look better than a million Thrilla Gorilla pizzas with extra bananas." He said grinning.

Gwen's face contorted in confusion, but it returned to normal when she realized he'd just paid her the highest compliment he could.

"Yup, he's back all right." His students laughed.

"RJ...**you're** bananas." She chuckled lightly. "But that's the sweetest thing anybody's ever said to me. Thanks, RJ; that means a lot."

She smiled down at him, running her fingers through his soft, unruly brown hair. But when she looked up and her gaze fell on the monster responsible for nearly taking away the man she cared about; her smile vanished and was replaced by carnal rage, so carnal, in fact, that her soft, brown eyes flashed a menacing yellow for a scant second. With her glare fixed on Arachnikhan, she spoke in a low, eerily quiet voice.

"Stay here, RJ."

She gently laid RJ down and slowly stood up. She took a few steps in front of her friend and faced the spider rinshi with clenched fists and bared teeth!

"You're **mine**, Arachnikhan!"

RJ's face furrowed in confusion as he saw Gwen stare down this huge beast without flinching. And he wasn't alone. The rangers shared his expression knowing that Gwen was deathly afraid of spiders...and 'was' was the operative word.

"Gwen, what are you doing!? You're gonna get hurt! Let the rangers handle this!" He pleaded from the ground.

But Gwen ignored him. For the second time since running into the Arachnikhan, he made it personal and she'd had enough. If anyone was gonna take him down, it was gonna be her.

"I can't do that, RJ. He started it...now I'm gonna finish it."

She spoke in that same low, eerie voice that seemed so unlike her. Her face held a steely determination that the Silver Ranger knew all too well...he also know what happened when you pissed Gwen off and he didn't have one iota of sympathy for Arachnikhan who was shaking in fear.

"B-b-b-but you're afraid of spiders!"

"After what you did to RJ, **you **should be afraid of **me**!"

She brought her balled right hand fist into her left hand and cracked her knuckles; the universal sign for 'it's **on**!' Keenan sees this and knew she was about to go off!

"_He's about to get toe up from the flo' up!"_ Keenan thought.

After repeating the process by alternating hands, Gwen spoke to RJ once more; her gaze never leaving Arachnikhan for a second.

"Oh, RJ, there's something I have to tell you."

"What?"

"This..."

She whipped off her lab coat to reveal that she had on blue jeans and a short-sleeved black t-shirt...and also, the Order of the Claw tattoo on her right arm. At this point she didn't care if he knew...if anyone knew. She was mad as hell and she wasn't gonna take it anymore. Gwen's glare seemed to bore a hole through Arachnikhan as she shouted...

"JUNGLE BEAST! SPIRIT UNLEASHED!"

She went through a graceful kata, emulating the cat-like movements of her spirit animal. Shimmering black chi radiated from her hands as it enveloped her body creating her ranger outfit. Her helmet materialized completing her uniform as she struck her heroic pose.

"SILENCE OF THE PANTHER! JUNGLE FURY BLACK RANGER!"

The teen rangers stood stunned beyond words as RJ fell backwards on his butt, shocked that Gwen had kept this secret from him...and amazed at how hot she looked in skintight black spandex.

"No way!" Casey exclaimed.

"Gwen's a Power Ranger!?" Lily asked.

"That is so awesome! Wait a minute...If Gwen's the black ranger, then that means..."

Red, blue and yellow all turned their faces to look at the Silver Ranger who spoke two words:

"Power down!"

The silver uniform disappeared to reveal what they had just figured out...the Silver Eagle Ranger was none other than Gwen's friend, Keenan.

"Surprise?" He said chuckling and shrugging his shoulders.

He grinned and showed them the Order of the Claw tattoo on his right arm.

"I don't believe this!" Lily shouted.

None of them could believe it. Least of all Casey who figured if they were secure enough to reveal their secrets...

"Well, since we're revealing ourselves...Power Down!"

Casey, Lily and Theo powered down and showed their identities to their new friends. Keenan's jaw nearly dropped when he saw that the teens he and Gwen befriended were the Jungle Fury Rangers all along.

"This explains so much!" Keenan joked.

Their attention returned to the black ranger and her face-off with Arachnikhan. He continued to taunt her hoping to regain his advantage of fear over her.

"Why should I be afraid of you. You're as quiet as a mouse."

"Haven't you heard? They say it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for. **Jungle Sais**!!

She clasped her hands together and two black sais, made like the other ranger weapons appeared. She twirled them with the expertise of a majorette and took a fighting stance. The visor of her helmet flashed the same eerie yellow her eyes did a minute ago. Keenan noticed this and brought his hand out to push the other three rangers back.

"We might wanna move back for this. It's gonna get ugly! Guys...Arachnikhan's about to experience the wrath of the panther!"

Wrath was an understatement. Gwen ran at top speed towards Arachnikhan and let out a roar that her friends didn't believe actually came out of the soft-spoken woman. The events that transpired over the last few days and getting RJ back gave her a strength nobody had ever witnessed before. Using her sais as claws, she attacked Arachnikhan full on with a flurry of kicks and strikes that made Lily proud. The spider rinshi had virtually no chance to retaliate...he couldn't. This ranger was barely human...her feral instincts had completely taken over and she was acting like a mother protecting her cubs. Each punch, each kick, every single strike of her sais caused a mini explosion as it made contact with the exoskeleton. RJ, who was still sitting in stunned silence, could swear he heard her growling. The rangers and RJ cheered her on as she tore Arachnikhan a new one! He staggered back after the onslaught the black ranger had inflicted and breathed heavily.

"I thought you said you were the quiet type!?" He queried.

"What can I say? Your actions brought out the beast in me. Speaking of...CALL TO THE BEAST INSIDE! RELEASE THE PANTHER!"

Her ebony panther spirit pounced from her body with its long claws outstretched and slashed at Arachnikhan's fatigued body until he explodes. As the spirit faded, Gwen stood triumphantly with her sais twirling in her hands.

"Jungle Rule Number One...you mess with my man, you mess with me!" She shouted._ "I didn't just say that out loud, did I?" _She thought.

After making her statement, she realized what she said and was thanking every god she could think of that she had on her helmet, otherwise everyone would see her face turning the same color as Casey's uniform. She was brought out of her embarrassment by the sound of Camille clapping slowly. She had a smirk on her face that Gwen didn't appreciate one bit.

"Bravo. What a performance, black ranger. Too bad your opponent was so weak. You couldn't take anyone on in a **real** battle...not even...oh, I don't know...me."

Gwen just put her hands on her hips and despite having a helmet on, everyone could tell she had the 'you did NOT just go there' look on her face. If there was one thing you don't want to do is challenge Gwen.

"You want a piece of this, **Lizard Lips?!**" She challenged.

"I thought you'd never ask." Camille replied in acceptance.

Camille stepped forward and transformed into her battle armor, twirling her own set of sais. Gwen just shook her head and folded her arms.

"Just when I thought you couldn't get any uglier." Gwen snapped.

"And you're the queen of fashion, I suppose. I wouldn't be caught dead in that uniform!" Camille taunted.

"You'd have to be dead six months to fit into it!" Gwen retorted.

RJ and the rangers cringed at Gwen's snap. Ooohs and ouches and the occasional daaaang were heard from the group. Camille was quivering so badly she thought her armor would turn red from the anger.

"Why you little...how dare you!"

Camille let out a scream as she charged at Gwen who retaliated with her own charge. Both women entered with a flurry of kicks and the clashing of their sais as they parried, thrusted and blocked the other's movements. In the midst of the exchange, Camille and Gwen went forward with a high kick, meeting in the middle with Camille's right foot and Gwen's left foot touching soles in mid air.

"Hmmph. Not bad...for a kitten." Camille taunted.

"Not bad yourself...for a fossil!" Gwen retorted.

Camille seethed with anger as once again, Gwen had come up with another snappy comeback. On the sidelines, the guys were watching the battle intently and all the while, they were chanting only two words:

"Cat fight! Cat fight! Cat fight!"

Lily expressed her shame and uttered under her breath with a slight growl... "Men."

RJ just sat in his spot with his legs crossed in the lotus position, his elbows resting on his knees and his head propped up on his hands. He looked at the fight like a little kid hearing a story his grandfather was telling him and the entire time, he had a shit-eating grin etched on his face. All he needed was his chair and a bowl of pretzels and he'd be set.

"_Where's a video camera when I need one?"_ He thought to himself.

The two women continued their fight across the plaza tooth and nail. Camille tried to shoot Gwen with lasers but the feline ranger used her animal spirit's abilities to their full advantage by climbing up one the wall of a nearby building and using it as a launching pad to deliver a killer corkscrew kick to the chameleon's abdomen. Camille was outraged and ran at Gwen launching another attack with the camouflage warrior seeming to gain the upper hand but the black ranger twists her body out of the way of Camille's blows and follows up with a handstand leg grab. Using her flexibility, she flips Camille with her legs into the side of the nearest office building. Seeing that she couldn't match the black ranger's power one on one...at least not in a far fight...she turned invisible, blending in perfectly with the scenery. Gwen looked around for any sign of the sly chameleon, when she found none, she did something unexpected. She crossed her arms in front of her chest like an Egyptian mummy and stood perfectly still. RJ and the three teen rangers tilted their heads in confusion; Keenan, on the other hand, knew exactly what was on his feline friend's mind.

"What's she doing?" Theo asked.

"Wait for it..." Keenan instructed holding up one hand.

Camille was hiding against the side of the office building behind Gwen and figured she had the perfect chance to finish her off. She launched herself from the wall and sailed forward to cut Gwen down from behind...or that was her intended plan. The black ranger sensed the attack and prepared to retaliate.

"**Panther Slash**!!"

Her shoes grew claws and looked more like panther's paws than human feet. She bent forward and caught Camille with a series of devastating cartwheel kicks, her clawed feet and sais ripping into her emerald armor. On her last flip, she kicks Camille ten feet into the air, jumps up after her and spins her body using her sais to drill into the chameleon. A loud explosion erupted through the sky; out of the cloud of smoke, Camille fell to the ground with a hard thud and out of her armor. She coughed as she sat up on her left arm and looked up at the woman who opened a can of whoop-ass on her.

"How-how did you see me?"

"Oh, I didn't. Two words, Lizard Lips...**deodorant soap**!"

Camille slowly stood up and staggered towards the rinshi form of Arachnikhan.

"Unless you want to end up as my snack, get them!" Camille ordered.

Arachnikhan transformed back into its eight legged form and roared as it grew thirty stories. RJ, Gwen and the other four ran backwards to avoid getting hit with any falling debris.

"I'm not gonna ask why you guys powered down in the first place...but **now** would be a good time to ranger up!" Gwen commented.

RJ and the four rangers looked at Gwen and then at each other.

"Hey, you heard my girl...ranger up!" RJ ordered. He then turned to Gwen and winked at her.

"_Yup, so glad to be wearing a helmet right now."_ She thought blushing.

"Alright! Time to ranger up!" Casey shouted. All four stood in line and shouted...

"Jungle Beast! Spirit Unleashed!"

Each ranger did their signature kata and donned their respective colors.

"**With the strength of the Tiger! Jungle Fury Red Ranger!"**

"**With the speed of the Cheetah! Jungle Fury Yellow Ranger!"**

"**With the stealth of the Jaguar! Jungle Fury Blue Ranger!"**

"**With the silence of the Panther! Jungle Fury Black Ranger!"**

"**With the flight of the Eagle! Jungle Fury Silver Ranger!"**

"Okay, does anyone else besides me think we can get our butts kicked while we do these roll calls?" Gwen asked.

"Talk later, fight now, sis!" Keenan shot back

"Let's do this, guys!" Casey rallied.

All five rangers nodded and shouted with confidence.

"Animal spirits, UNITE AS ONE!"

They summoned their animal spirits from their bodies and leapt inside. Each beast turned into a zord form of its intended creature. The cheetah, jaguar and tiger morphed into its usual Megazord form. The panther changed its form and latched onto the tiger's torso to make chest armor with its head sitting up front. It's paws formed of the tiger's paws like gloves. The eagle swooped down and transformed to latch itself onto the tiger's back. From inside the completed robot, the five rangers shouted...

"**Primal Fury Megazord!**"

"Sa-weet! I can get used to this!" Gwen complimented.

"You and me both, Gwen." Keenan agreed, looking around at his new surroundings.

"What do you say we squish this spider once and for all?" Casey offered.

"Now, you're talking! I've had enough of him!" Theo replied.

"So let's shut up and do this!"

The other four looked at the usually nice Lily and was surprised at her outburst.

"You go, girl!" Gwen commented.

Back on the ground, Flit, that annoying pest that resided in Camille's gullet, escaped yet again to provide color commentary on the latest bout.

"This is incredible! The rangers join forces with their new allies to create a powerful new zord! This is going to be a great fight!"

Camille was annoyed by the fly's constant chatter and made a 'friendly' suggestion.

"Why don't you take a hint from the panther woman and BE SILENT!?"

The Primal Fury Megazord charges in with punching and kicking combos only to have them have no effect on the newly formed exoskeleton of their foe.

"Arachnikhan has a tough skin! Tougher than diamond! Will this new megazord be able to make a scratch!? Let's watch!

"Will you move, Flit? You make a better door than a window!" Camille insulted.

"WHOA! And the newbie uses a succession of roundhouse kicks to deliver some harsh blows!"

The last roundhouse kick lands squarely in the chest of Arachnikhan and a large explosion is let loose.

"Ouch! And that move knocks the spider-man knock-off for a loop! If he had any hopes for a comic book deal, that's all over!"

Arachnikhan regained his composure and stood defiantly in front of the pumped up megazord.

"I still have a few tricks up my sleeve!"

"We better watch our backs, guys. Tarantulas can flick the hairs of their back ends and spray them into their enemy's eyes causing a painful stinging sensation."

They all looked at Gwen...the one who hated spiders the most...and all had the posture that said..."Huh?"

"What? Just because I hate them doesn't mean I don't know their tricks." Gwen answered.

Arachnikhan brushed his hind end furiously and released tiny hairs that had the ability to explode on contact.

"Keenan, wanna send this gift back to him?"

"With pleasure!"

The Eagle zord's wings flapped quickly and fanned the exploding hairs back to its original owner. Each tiny follicle exploded in Arachnikhan's face, pushing him backwards.

"What a clever maneuver by the newbies! Bet he didn't see **that **one coming, folks!" The fly commentator observed much to the dismay of Camille who still had trouble seeing the fight.

"You bothersome little gnats! Try** this **on for size! **Spinneret Silk!!**"

The spider rinshi turns around and shoots ribbons of thick silk webbing from its back end. The sticky tendrils encase the megazord's arms and torso in a silken cocoon. The rangers tried desperately to free themselves but without success.

"Oh! Looks like the megazord is caught in a sticky situation! No pun intended, folks!" Flit announced.

"Oh, gross! I hated cobwebs from **normal **spiders!" Lily shuddered.

"We have to get this stuff off of us!" Theo added.

Gwen looked at Arachnikhan from inside and folded her arms.

"You know, you should never mess with black cats...we tend to bring bad luck!" Gwen quipped.

"Now what does this pretty kitty have in her bag of tricks?" Flit asked.

The eyes on the panther chestplate glowed brightly and soon smoke was coming from the silk. Soon, the panther's eyes burned its way through the think silk and the Megazord was able to break free.

"I don't believe it! They escaped their silk prison! Is there anything these kids can't do?"

"Shut you up?" Camille retorted.

"Okay, I'm about ready to wrap this up!" Theo chimed in.

"We can with the megazord's new move: Jungle Stampede!" Keenan explained.

"Well, let's take it for a test drive!" Casey ordered.

All five took a relay runner's stance and shouted:

"JUNGLE STAMPEDE!"

"What!? These kids know the dreaded Jungle Stampede! I've NEVER seen anything like this! It's charging at top speed but...what's this...its shadows are making clones! SOLID clones!! And they're all charging head on!"

The shadow replicated into five separate and solid clones of the original. Each clone bashed into Arachnikhan's body and tore off pieces of its exoskeleton with each pass.

"This could be curtains for Arachnikhan!" Flit announced.

The last clone passed and delivered the final blow to the large spider.

"Oh! Just call these kids RAID because this little buggy is DEAD!"

The Primal Fury Megazord stood triumphantly as Arachnikhan's body turned to stone and exploded into a million pieces. The five rangers cheered loudly at their hardest fought victory.

"This was a fight for the ages, ladies and gentlemen! These kids are unstoppable."

Flit buzzed around for a few more seconds before Camille flicked her tongue out to swallow the pest whole.

"Oh...I hope Dai Shi isn't into fashion, otherwise I'm his new accessory." Camille lamented.

Back at the training room above JKP...

RJ and the five rangers were sitting around after their battle and talking about the events of the last few days.

"How cool is this? New teammates, new zords." Casey remembered.

"And a new relationship." Lily finished. Everyone looked to the couple in question and saw them smiling at each other. But the scene raised a question and Theo decided to initiate the query.

"Hey, RJ. Arachnikhan's hold on you was pretty strong, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was. It took everything I had to fight it. Why do you ask?"

"Why didn't you attack Gwen when he ordered you to?"

RJ closed his eyes as he let out a light chuckle. He was slightly amused at how young his cubs really were...especially in matters of the heart.

"Because no matter how strong his hold was on me, I could never hurt Gwen."

RJ gave Gwen a sweet smile that made her hide her head and blush. Keenan wanted to badly to tease her, but remembered that she knew where he lived so he decided to keep quiet.

"But, really, we're sorry we had to keep our secret from you, guys." Keenan apologized. "You understand, right?"

"Yeah, of course. We did the same thing. No harm done." Casey added.

"Yeah, that's great, but something still puzzles me. If there wasn't an antidote for Arachnikhan's venom, what made RJ change back?"

The second Lily asked that question, all of the rangers were deep in thought. They had no idea and had even less of an idea on where to find the answer. When they had all but given up on finding the elusive answer, a bright, golden glow illuminated the center of their circle until it took the form of Master Mao. RJ and the five rangers stood and bowed showing the proper respect to their former master.

"Master, it's good to see you again. What brings you here?" Lily asked.

"I came to answer your question. I overheard you wondering how Arachnikhan's venom could be neutralized if there was no antidote."

Everyone nodded and waited patiently for their master to give the explanation.

"Arachnikhan's venom was forged from pure fear and hate. What counteracted it was Gwen's tears."

All if their faces furrowed in confusion; Gwen especially.

"I don't understand." Gwen said in confusion. "What did my tears have to do with RJ changing back?"

"They had everything to do with it because your tears held the one thing that could reverse the venom's effects...love. In fact, it's the same love that kept RJ from attacking you."

RJ smiled at Gwen as he gently took her hand and held it firmly in his.

"The power of love is amazing!" Lily commented.

Master Mao noticed RJ and his adopted daughter together and it warmed his heart. He gave a warm smile and gave RJ a friendly piece of advice.

"RJ, treat her right."

"Oh, of course...but...you act like she's your daughter. Which reminds me of when I was at the academy."

A memory from RJ's past entered his mind regarding Master Mao and he had to tell his friends.

"Everyone knew that Master Mao had adopted two children and raised them as his own. He trained them privately but nobody ever saw their faces. Most of the guys noticed him talking to his daughter around the academy, but we only saw her form the back...which was a nice view if I remember correctly."

A mischievous grin appeared on his face as he remembered the thoughts he had of the mysterious young girl whose face was always hidden for one reason or another.

"Oh, the thoughts I had about her. I wonder whatever happened to her?"

Gwen and Keenan just sat there with a smirk and the black ranger uttered two words that she knew would make RJ turn as white as a ghost:

"Hi, daddy."

At that moment, RJ's eyes grew to the size of the pans he used for his Thrilla Gorilla pizzas. The color drained from his face and looked as if he was made of flour as he looked at Gwen.

"D-d-d-d-Daddy?!"

Master Mao smirked and spoke to his daughter.

"Hello, Lotus Blossom."

Casey, Lily and Theo were rendered nearly speechless. They had known about the children Master Mao adopted and trained, but finding out that Gwen and Keenan were those kids...this was something they had to take in. Keenan had to shake his head to keep from laughing.

"Y-y-you mean you..."

He looked at Gwen with a horrified expression as he pointed at her with a jittery index finger and then pointed his thumb to his former master. Gwen just smiled sheepishly and nodded. The pizza chef then turned his gaze to Master Mao.

"A-and you..."

He stuttered as he pointed to Master Mao with his twitching index finger and at Gwen with his thumb. The rangers' former master just smirked and nodded. This only made RJ paler as he remembered the thoughts he had about his daughter back then.

"And I...yi, YI!"

He pointed to himself as the memories came flooding back...oh, the thoughts he had about the Master's daughter...to which the only words he could muster were.."Oh, crud."

"You do realize that daddy's now gonna haunt you for the rest of your natural life, right?"

Gwen asked as RJ lightly nodded his head. He was in a catatonic state as he realized that Gwen was the daughter of his former master...that he'd been having impure thoughts about for so long.

"And just what kind of thoughts were you having about my little girl, RJ?"

Master Mao folded his arms and didn't look like a Kung Fu Master...he looked like a father who was about to wring a horny teenager's neck for lusting after his little lotus blossom. RJ swallowed hard and spoke fast.

"I plead the fifth...and I'd also like to plead for my life." RJ said quickly as he was tugging at the collar of his shirt. _"I am so royally screwed!" _He thought to himself.

"I'm serious, RJ. Gwendolyn is my world. You do anything to make her unhappy, I'll haunt you in this life, the next life, the life after that, the life after that..."

"Daddy!"

Gwen, who was embarrassed beyond words, put her head in her hand and shook it in shame as she exhaled sharply. He had always been protective of his little girl...maybe **too **protective. But that comes with the territory of being a father and raising a daughter.

"Daddy, you always do this. No wonder I never dated when I was in the Academy. You scared everyone away."

"It's just because I worry about you, Lotus. I don't want to see you hurt."

Gwen sighed as she looked up at her ghostly father.

"Dad, you taught me Kung Fu. I was trained by the best masters in the world. I can take care of myself."

"I don't mean physically, Lotus. I mean emotionally. You've had your heart broken so many times...when your parents passed...when your little black kitten, Fluke, passed away...and your first date...I was nearly banned from the academy for what I wanted to do to that little..."

"Daddy." She interrupted.

"What happened?" Theo and everyone else wanted to know.

"Well, on our date, he tried to force himself on me. And the reason Daddy didn't do anything to him was because I beat him to the punch...I...kinda sorta kicked him in the crown jewels." She scratched her head and chuckled nervously at the memory. "The scream he let out broke glass within a ten foot radius."

"Right on!"

Lily shouted enthusiastically at the display of girl power while all of the guys crossed their legs, cringing heavily. Her father smirked...he was so proud of his little lotus blossom. He cleared his throat and spoke again.

"As I was saying, I was trying to protect you from getting hurt again. It pains me to see my lotus blossom cry."

RJ listened to his former master speak with his daughter and understood what he was saying. He looked to Master Mao and spoke from his heart.

"Master, I assure you, I would never do anything to hurt Gwen. That's the last thing in the world I want to do. She means so much to me as she does to you and I promise to treat her like the precious treasure she is."

Gwen felt a warm sensation grow in her heart as she heard RJ's beautiful words.

"I honestly believe you, RJ." He smiled.

"Thank you, Master." RJ said as he bowed.

"And, daddy...I'm not a little girl anymore."

"Maybe not, but you'll always be **my **little girl."

He grinned at his daughter. He would go to the ends of the earth for her, even give his life if need be. Hearing him say those words made a single tear streak down her bronze cheek. She sniffled and wiped it away.

"I love you, daddy." She grinned.

"And I love you both, my children. Thought you are not of my flesh and blood, you **are **my children. You two have made me so proud. Keenan, young dragon, take care of your sister."

"Always, dad." Keenan agreed.

Both he and Gwen went to their father's outstretched arms. They went to hug him and half expected to go right through him...he was a ghost, after all. But as their arms closed...they were astonished to feel his arms around them...they felt solid despite the fact that they could still see through him. The three family members held their group hug for what seemed like ages. He hadn't felt his children since the unfortunate day of his demise. Keenan and Gwen were out training when the attack happened and were informed of it too late. The two of them shed the tears they kept inside since then; they never got the chance to say goodbye to their adopted father and this was closure. Finally, they broke their hug and Master Mao took another look at how his children had grown up. He smiled as he could still see the two seven-year-olds that captured his heart that day at the orphanage.

"It felt wonderful to hold you both again, but unfortunately, I must go. I'll always be watching over you, rangers...and my children."

"We love you, dad." Keenan and Gwen said in stereo.

"And I love you. Farewell."

All the rangers stood and bowed as Master Mao slowly vanished. The sound of a cat meowing echoed throughout the basement. That sound reminded of Gwen of something wanted to tell a certain yellow ranger.

"Speaking of cats...I need you to return little Makomba to the Animal Hospital, Lily."

Gwen had a playful smirk on her face. Keenan had told her about Lily's failed attempt to smuggle the spotted ball of fluff out of the hospital. Lily exhaled sharply, seemingly outraged that Gwen would accuse her of taking the tiny cheetah cub.

"Gwen, I am **shocked **that you would accuse me of taking the cheetah. How could you assume that I took that cute little baby?" She asked.

"Because that cute little baby is standing next to you with a stuffed rabbit in its mouth like it was a fresh kill."

Gwen pointed to Lily's feet. When the blonde ranger looked down, she saw the tiny cheetah with a stuffed yellow rabbit in its mouth, stuffing spilling out of its sides and one of its ears bitten off. Looking back up at Gwen, she sidestepped one step to the right to hide the little fuzzball and out of her mouth came the words...

"What cheetah?"

Casey, Theo and RJ groaned at Lily's feeble attempt to hide the results of her kitty heist. Gwen had her hands on her hips as she waited for Lily's flimsy excuse. This had to be good.

"Um...uhhhhh...it followed me home?" Lily gave her a _'you're not buying this, are you' _grin as the baby cheetah mewed with the rabbit still in its mouth.

"Wanna try again?" The lady vet asked.

Lily sighed. She knew her love for babies would catch up to her. She had to confess.

"Remember our first round of searches for RJ and I was sent downtown?" Gwen nodded and waited for the yellow ranger to continue. "Well...I made a little side trip to the animal hospital and went to Cita's pen...where I kinda had some turkey in my backpack...and the cheetah cub kinda went to it and climbed in...and I kinda walked out with him." She cringed lightly.

"So you **kinda** stole him." Gwen said plainly.

"Stole is such an ugly word...can't we use..."

"Cat-napped?" Gwen interrupted.

"I was gonna say 'invited to a play date.'" Lily answered.

The yellow ranger picked up the cheetah cub which still had the mutilated corpse of her stuffed bunny rabbit in its jaws and held him closely to her chest.

"Come on, Gwen. Can't I keep him for just one night? Cita didn't seem to mind. Pretty please?"

"Lily, you know I can't..."

Before Gwen could finish, she looked up to see Lily turn on her version of the sad puppy dog eyes, only this time she added the dreaded lip quiver.

"Lily, that's not going to work. The only person who can do that to me is..."

Again, she was interrupted when she saw none other than RJ stand next to Lily...his own face displaying the sad puppy dog eyes and lip quiver. She had to admit, he just looked so cute...but she had to be strong. _"Those eyes, RJ...whoever gave you those eyes should be __**shot**__!"_ She thought to herself.

"See, that's not fair! Two against one!?"

The two quickly turned to three when Casey joined in the puppy face onslaught.

"This is wrong on **so** many levels! How can you live with yourselves?!" She asked. "Well, at least Theo is exhibiting some maturity."

She was quickly proven wrong when the blue ranger added his puppy dog face to the mix. She now had four sad puppy faces.

"You little...RJ, what are you teaching these kids!? Keenan, do something!"

"Okay."

And Keenan completed the puppy staredown by adding his face to the group.

"Traitor! Lily, I know you love little Makomba but I'm afraid the answer is..."

She was going to say no; she had every right to say no; but she never got the chance to say no because all five started to whimper like a litter of crying newborn puppies. They were wearing her down with an overdose of cuteness. She could handle **one** puppy dog face...but **five**!? Gwen might as well be Superman locked in a room full of Kryptonite.

"You guys **SUCK**!" She groaned in frustration through clenched teeth.

They responded by whimpering even louder. She just shook her head and looked to her friends...which was very difficult at the moment.

"Alright! Uncle! I give up! Makomba can stay the night...ONE NIGHT! But you have to promise to take him back first thing in the morning."

"I promise! Thanks, Gwen!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Her face crumpled in defeat. But after seeing Lily bring the baby cheetah to her face and it licking her nose, her anger dissipated. Now that she knew their secret, everything that happened at the vet hospital made sense. The tiger, the cheetahs and the jaguar naturally drew to their animal spirits' hosts. The four rangers gathered around Lily and tiny Makomba and tried to take the bunny from its mouth...actually, they were playing with him. By this time RJ had again taken hold of Gwen's hand and the two went back to smiling at each other. Brown eyes and green eyes locked and to the two of them, nobody else existed. Casey smirked and nudged his head towards the door telling the others that the four of them should leave them alone.

"Gwen, I can't thank you enough for what you did for me." RJ spoke in a soft voice.

He was already holding one of her hands and as he spoke, he took her other hand into his, stroking his thumbs over the soft skin.

"I didn't really do anything." Gwen disagreed.

The feeling of his strong hands holding hers, his voice, and his eyes...oh, those eyes...she could get lost in those eyes and never want to be found...they just send sparks through her body.

"Yes, you did. You saved my life. You took care of me when I needed you the most..."

"I owed you; you saved me at the movies. But..."

"I know what you're going to say. But you had no idea that monster was me; I had to do something to let you know I was in there. You have no idea how hard I fought Arachnikhan's hold on me. It took everything in me and it felt like I'd pass out; but I had to fight...for you."

RJ brought his right hand to her cheek and held it gently, just as she did to him at the hospital. Her eyes closed slightly feeling his warm skin on her face.

"I'm glad you did. I had to overcome a debilitating fear of spiders. When I figured out that it was you...and seeing you suffer like that...my fear vanished. I knew you needed me and I wasn't about to let my arachnophobia keep me from helping you."

She brought her hand to rest on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

"I'd go through a million spiders to help you."

His heart warmed. He knew she'd just given him **her** highest compliment.

"That really means a lot to me, Gwen. I've wanted to fo this for a long time."

RJ closed his eyes and leaned in slowly for a kiss, but his lips met with her right index finger instead. When he opened his eyes, he had a befuddled look on his face and backed up.

'What's wrong? Do I have garlic breath? Something in my teeth? A booger?" He asked.

Gwen chuckled at his panicked look and decided to ease his mind.

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Well, then, why don't you want to kiss me?"

"I do...just not with an audience."

She pointed with her thumb to the top of the stairs where Casey, Theo, Lily and Keenan were watching them the whole time, grinning stupidly. They never left and Lily gave them a 'wiggling finger' wave as she giggled. Both RJ and Gwen looked annoyed at the lack of privacy.

"Don't you guys have something to do...like work?" RJ asked a little perturbed.

"Um...nope. We're closed." Casey answered with a grin.

"So, go clean up the kitchen." RJ quipped.

"Already done, and spotless." Lily added.

"Empty the cash register."

"Already deposited at the bank." Theo smirked.

"Sweep the floors?"

"And mopped. They're so clean you can eat off the floor." Casey mused.

RJ looked defeated. He wracked his brain trying to figure out some mundane chore...ANY chore to get them to go away. But he couldn't. And Gwen knew better than to try to get Keenan to leave. He was a world-class snoop.

"Well, they're not gonna leave...so now what?" Gwen asked smirking playfully.

"I guess there's only one thing we **can **do."

RJ smiled as he leaned in for another kiss...only to hit index finger for the third time since he met her. He opened his eyes and his face looked more confused than before.

"Now what!?"

"I don't kiss on the first date." She said simply with a grin.

"What? But-b-but...I don't even get one? After all I've been through? I almost **died**!"

He immediately went into his sad puppy act, knowing she couldn't resist. But she had something planned for him this time.

"Okay, okay. You can have a kiss. Close your eyes."

RJ happily did as asked and closed his eyes...and waited. Gwen smirked as she took his hand and held it open, palm side up. She placed something small in the middle and told RJ to open his eyes. When he did, he saw a single Hershey's kiss wrapped in shiny silver foil and with the little trademark flag sticking out of the top. She gently opened the foil to expose the brown confection and looked at RJ.

"Very funny." He said with a smirk.

"Now, now. That piece of candy is a lot like me. It's small, it's sweet...and it's full of** luscious** chocolate." She said the last part seductively. RJ was having a hard time focusing on anything but her full lips when she brought him out of his spell.

"But...there is one **big** difference between that piece of candy and me..."

"And what would that be?" RJ asked with increasing curiosity.

Gwen brought her face to his left ear and whispered into it, loud enough for only him to hear.

"I taste better."

She purred in his ear, a sultry purr that came from the innermost part of her soul; her lips just barely touching the outer rim. Her low, sexy voice and the sensual purr made him close his eyes and visibly shiver. _"Oh, Gwen, do you know what you're doing to me?"_ He thought to himself. He still held the chocolate candy in his hand as Gwen slowly walked up the stairs to join her friends.

"I think RJ just melted." Casey mentioned chuckling.

"That's not the only thing...look!" Keenan said as he pointed to the lovestruck pizza chef.

The rangers all laughed and that snapped RJ out of his fantasy world.

"What's so funny?" He asked his students.

They pointed to his hand and when RJ looked down, he saw that the tiny Hershey's kiss had melted all over his palm, the tiny paper flag floating in the middle of a chocolate pool. All Gwen did was whisper in his ear and purr and that got such a reaction out of him. It made him hot..in more ways than one. RJ pulled the flag out of the mess with his other hand and looked at the sky blue letters written on it. Nowadays they had specific messages on them and Gwen had one specially made just for him. He read the flag and it had this message: "This is my cell number...call me. ;)" He looked up to the top of the stairs ad Gwen who winked and blew him a kiss. RJ reached up and grabbed it, placing it on his own lips. It wasn't the kiss he was expecting, but he'd take it nonetheless.

"See you later, RJ."

She smiled and walked down the stairs with her brother running after her and asking a million questions.

"So, what did you say to him?"

"Nothing..."

"It wasn't 'nothing'! Guys don't shiver like that over 'nothing'! Now spill!"

"No."

"Why not!?"

"Because it's nunya!"

"Nunya?!"

"Nunya business! Now drop it, Keenan."

"No way, I wanna know!"

"Forget it, Keenan!"

The two adopted siblings bickered all the way out of the loft leaving their new friends laughing. It was the first time they saw them act like a real brother and sister since they first met. Later that night...the three rangers were all sound asleep. Casey was laying back in his hammock with one arm and a leg hanging over the side. It was a wonder he hadn't flipped over and landed flat on his face. Theo was in his hammock, a blanket tucked under his chin. Lily was asleep in her bed, but not alone. Little Makomba was curled up on her belly and was purring contentedly as it slept, the sound of Lily's breathing and the cub's purring lulled the other one into peaceful slumber. In RJ's room was...nobody. The pizza chef/mentor was on the roof, looking up at the full moon and stars. The memory of Gwen whispering in his ear and whipping his hormones into a frenzy stayed with him, and he decided to do something about it. Taking out his cell phone, he dialed his newly acquired phone number.

Gwen was sound asleep in her apartment when her cell phone rang and woke her up, the MMPR ringtone going off in the room. She yawned and opened her cell phone ready to curse out the person who thought it would be a good idea to wake her up at 1 in the morning.

"Hello?" She said in a fake sweet voice. Inside, she was already thinking up some very colorful language.

"Hey, sleepyhead." RJ cooed.

"RJ? Hi, but why are you calling me so early?" She asked yawning lightly.

"I just wanted to talk. Hafta admit...you got me pretty good this afternoon with that Hershey's kiss. And it got me thinking..."

"About..."

She was wondering what RJ was going to say; she knew this conversation was leading somewhere, she just didn't know what.

"About things in common. I just realized I have a lot in common with some of my pizzas...like them...I'm hot and spicy."

He said the last four words in a low, deep voice that sent sparks through Gwen's soul. But RJ wasn't done yet. He hadn't accomplished what he set out to do.

"And just so you know, you really should have kissed me...I taste pretty good, too."

And she thought his speaking voice was hot. Hearing him whisper made her shiver and let out a soft moan. _"Gotcha."_ He thought to himself.

"Good night, Gwen."

"Good, night, RJ." She replied breathlessly before hanging up. _"Touche."_ She thought before turning over in her bed to go back to sleep.

RJ smirked into the phone, very pleased with himself spoke.

"Welcome to the corner of pay..." He closed his cell shut. "...and back."_ "This is going to be one interesting relationship." _He thought.

He placed his cell into his pocket and looked up at the hypnotic glow of the full moon and not knowing why, did something that was out of character for him...he howled. He was baying at the moon like a wolf in heat. That beauty brought out the beast in him...and this was just the beginning.

THE END...for now. ;)

Well, I hope you liked this first installment...yes I said FIRST. I plan on doing more with this couple in future fics. Ciao for now. ;)


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